Paramount accused of silencing Hollywood voices against Gaza genocide
4 Min Read
Paramount faces growing outrage for reportedly enforcing a pro-"Israel" agenda, censoring dissent, and targeting Hollywood figures who speak out against the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
-
Skydance Media CEO David Ellison attends the premiere of "Fountain of Youth" at the American Museum of Natural History on Monday, May 19, 2025, in New York (AP)
Paramount Studios, under its new CEO David Ellison, has reportedly established an internal blacklist targeting Hollywood figures it labels as “anti-Semitic”, according to Variety on 4 November 4. The move comes amid growing criticism in the entertainment industry of "Israel’s" ongoing genocide in Gaza.
“Israel” and its allies have long weaponized the term "anti-Semitism" to cast the former as a perpetual victim, masking its role as an occupying and oppressive entity. By manipulating public discourse, it reframes massacres and systemic aggression as mere “clashes” or acts of “self-defense,” cloaking war crimes in the language of security and Jewish identity.
David Ellison, son of Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, took control of Paramount in October following an $8bn merger with Skydance. Larry Ellison, a longtime ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the largest private donor to the Israeli military, has aligned his company’s operations with US and Israeli security priorities, pledging Oracle’s cloud and cybersecurity infrastructure to support "Israel" after the outbreak of the Israeli war on Gaza.
Oracle has also assumed control of the US TikTok algorithm through a Trump-backed deal transferring the app from China’s ByteDance to US investors.
The company plans to retrain the algorithm “from the ground up” and manage all US user data through its cloud network, a move praised by Israeli lobbies as a safeguard against what they claim is "online antisemitism".
Paramount accused of silencing Israeli critics, backing pro-Zionist agenda
David Ellison is also pursuing a potential acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, which would consolidate some of the largest US entertainment and news networks under a single, openly pro-Zionist leadership.
According to Variety, Paramount’s new management has taken a hardline stance in defense of "Israel", refusing to work with artists it deems hostile to Israeli interests. The studio has reportedly dismissed senior staff members critical of "Israel", including CBS foreign correspondent Debora Patta, who covered the war on Gaza.
Following Ellison’s takeover, Bari Weiss, founder of far-right outlet The Free Press and a prominent Zionist, was appointed editor-in-chief of CBS News.
In a statement released on Friday, Paramount said it “disagreed with recent efforts to boycott Israeli filmmakers,” arguing that “silencing individual creative artists based on their nationality does not promote better understanding or advance the cause of peace.”
Film Workers for Palestine in the crosshairs
The statement responded to a pledge by Film Workers for Palestine, endorsed by over 4,000 actors and directors, including Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Tilda Swinton, Javier Bardem, and Olivia Colman, to boycott Israeli film institutions accused of complicity in genocide and apartheid.
The group rejected Paramount’s characterization of the initiative, emphasizing that the pledge targets institutions, not individual artists. “We hope the studio is not intentionally misrepresenting the pledge in an attempt to silence our colleagues in the film industry,” the collective said.
Film Workers for Palestine also highlighted the Ellison family’s close ties to Netanyahu and the Israeli military, noting that federal filings indicate Larry Ellison will retain control over Paramount.
Last month, the International Association of Genocide Scholars concluded that "Israel’s" actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide.
Read next: Stars turn Emmys red carpet into a call to end Gaza genocide
