Jewish celebrities support Jonathan Glazer amid continued Oscars speech fallout

Over a hundred celebrities have signed an open letter in support of Jonathan Glazer, the Zone Of Interest director who used the platform of his Oscars acceptance to make a statement about the ongoing suffering in Palestine. (“Whether the victims of October the 7th in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all the victims of this dehumanization, how do we resist?” he said in his speech.) The letter of support includes signatures from prominent Hollywood figures like Debra Winger, Elliot Gould, David Cross, Wallace Shawn, Joaquin Phoenix, Ilana Glazer, and Abbi Jacobson, among others.

The letter, which can be read in full over at Variety, states in part, “We are Jewish artists, filmmakers, writers and creative professionals who support Jonathan Glazer’s statement from the 2024 Oscars. We were alarmed to see some of our colleagues in the industry mischaracterize and denounce his remarks. Their attacks on Glazer are a dangerous distraction from Israel’s escalating military campaign which has already killed over 32,000 Palestinians in Gaza and brought hundreds of thousands to the brink of starvation. We grieve for all those who have been killed in Palestine and Israel over too many decades, including the 1,200 Israelis killed in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks and the 253 hostages taken.”

The letter continues, “The attacks on Glazer also have a silencing effect on our industry, contributing to a broader climate of suppression of free speech and dissent, the very qualities our field should cherish. Glazer, Tony Kushner, Steven Spielberg and countless other artists of all backgrounds have decried the killing of Palestinian civilians. We should all be able to do the same without being wrongly accused of fueling antisemitism.”

In a statement to the outlet, Ilana Glazer said, “I signed this letter to help counter the climate of silencing that many workplaces and industries are facing around Israel’s war on Gaza, now entering its seventh month. This controversy surrounding Jonathan Glazer is just one example.” She is joined in signing the letter by high-profile signatories like filmmakers Joel Coen, Todd Haynes, Lenny Abrahamson, Boots Riley, Nicole Holofcener, Mike Leigh, Ira Sachs, Janicza Bravo, Miranda July, and Emma Seligman as well as actors like Kate Berlant (The Other Two), Lola Kirke (Mistress America), Tavi Gevinson (Gossip Girl), Chloe Fineman (Saturday Night Live), Ariela Barer (How To Blow Up A Pipeline), Dan Bucatinsky (Scandal), Noah Galvin (The Good Doctor), Hari Nef (Barbie), Sarah Ramos (The Bear), and more.

This open letter comes after weeks of debate and condemnation of Glazer’s speech. A fair amount of criticism came from the misinterpretation—deliberate or otherwise—of Glazer’s remark that “we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people.” The intention of his words was pared down by some to mean that Glazer was unequivocally “refuting [his] Jewishness,” rather than his desire not to have his identity used as an excuse for continued Israeli aggression. In the wake of the speech, Noa Tishby (The Affair) told Variety, “Glazer’s shocking attempt to blame global issues on his Jewishness and the Holocaust reveals the significant disconnect present among some in Hollywood.”

The backlash consolidated in an open letter signed by Tishby and others—including Jennifer Jason Leigh, Debra Messing, Tovah Feldshuh, Amy Sherman-Palladino, Eli Roth, Julianna Marguiles, and more—which denounced Glazer’s speech. “We refute our Jewishness being hijacked for the purpose of drawing a moral equivalence between a Nazi regime that sought to exterminate a race of people, and an Israeli nation that seeks to avert its own extermination,” that letter read. It was reported that the open letter gained over 1,000 signatures of Jewish creatives, though critics pointed out that there was an easily accessible Google Form and no vetting process to add one’s name. (At least one fake name, “Riverto Thesea,” was identified.)

The conflict in Gaza has become one of the most polarizing issues in Hollywood (and certainly beyond). In the immediate aftermath of the Hamas attack on October 7, those who spoke up on behalf of Palestinians faced career consequences, including Susan Sarandon being dropped from UTA and the resignation of A-list CAA agent Maha Dakhil. Perhaps most prominently, actor Melissa Barerra was fired from the Scream movies after sharing posts on social media that accused Israel of “genocide and ethnic cleansing.” Scream production company Spyglass said in a statement that her posting “flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech.”

On the other hand, there has been growing support for the Palestinian cause—or at least for an end to violence—as the conflict continues. More than 200 artists (including Bradley Cooper, Alfonso Cuarón, Selena Gomez, Janelle Monáe, Lupita Nyong’o, Jenna Ortega, Mahershala Ali, Kumail Nanjiani, Ayo Edebiri, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Lopez, Rachel McAdams, and more) signed an Artists4Ceasefire letter urging President Joe Biden to “call for an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Gaza and Israel.” Many of these artists wore Artists4Ceasefire pins on the red carpet during awards season and elsewhere to show their support. Ramy Youssef, one of that letter’s signatories, has been vocal about calling for a ceasefire and contributing aid to Gazans; during his recent Saturday Night Live hosting gig, he recited a prayer that included a plea to “Please stop the suffering. Stop the violence. Please free the people of Palestine, please. And please free the hostages, all the hostages, please.”

Currently, Cinema for Gaza is organizing an auction in support of Medical Aid for Palestinians, with participants including Tilda Swinton, Peter Capaldi, Imelda Staunton, Brian Cox, Josh O’Connor, Joseph Quinn, Karen Gillan, Aisling Bea, Nicola Coughlan, Annie Lennox, and more. Jonathan Glazer, who has not commented publicly since making his speech, has donated signed Zone Of Interests posters to the event.