Simon Wiesenthal Center chief criticizes actor for alleged antisemitic remarks

The chief executive of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Jim Berk, said Mark Ruffalo’s recent statements about Paramount Pictures contained antisemitic tropes and praised the studio for rejecting such language. > "Words matter, and so does the willingness to draw a line when legitimate debate gives way to antisemitic tropes," Berk wrote in a statement to Deadline. He added that Paramount’s response was a display of "moral clarity" at a time when antisemitism is often minimized.

Ruffalo had earlier accused Paramount of being funded by Larry Ellison’s son, David Ellison, and linked the company to technology supplied to the Israeli military, using terms such as “genocide” and “apartheid” to describe the conflict in Gaza. Paramount’s spokesperson responded that invoking such terms in a business dispute was "wrong" and "cheapen the very real suffering" those words describe.

Berk said Ruffalo was conflating unrelated issues and that invoking Israel in the debate was a "textbook case of obsession and demonization," noting that Paramount was correct to call out the remarks. Deadline has contacted Ruffalo for comment.