Hollywood's Stance on the 'Israel Boycott' Movement
"Creative Artists Should Not Be Silenced Because of Their Nationality"
Speculation Arises Over Ties Between Executives and Prime Minister Netanyahu
As the war between Israel and Palestine continues, a movement to boycott Israel has been spreading throughout Hollywood. However, Paramount has drawn attention by refusing to join this movement. According to Yonhap News on the 13th (local time), citing The New York Times (NYT), "Paramount issued a statement the previous day, saying, 'We do not agree with the recent movement to boycott Israeli filmmakers.'"
Paramount, the media group that merged last month with the film production company Skydance. Official website
Paramount further stated, "Silencing creative artists because of their nationality does not promote greater understanding or peace," adding, "What we need is more engagement and communication, not the opposite." The NYT pointed out, "Paramount is the first major Hollywood studio to denounce the Israel boycott, which is supported by over 4,000 Hollywood industry professionals," and noted, "There were concerns about a potential rightward shift at Paramount following its merger with Skydance, and this statement has been released just a month after the merger."
Paramount completed its merger with the film production company Skydance last month in a deal valued at 8 billion dollars (approximately 10.5 trillion won). However, speculation has arisen that the relationship between David Ellison, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Skydance, and his father Larry Ellison-who is known to be close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu-may have influenced Paramount's recent statement.
There was also controversy at the end of the merger between Paramount and Skydance. The two companies announced their merger plan in July last year and received approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the European Commission (EC) in February this year. However, the merger was delayed due to the slow approval process from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
There were observations that this delay reflected the intentions of the Donald Trump administration. In November last year, ahead of the U.S. presidential election, President Trump filed a 20 billion dollar (approximately 28 trillion won) lawsuit against CBS, a subsidiary of Paramount, claiming that CBS had deleted content unfavorable to then-Democratic candidate and former Vice President Kamala Harris during an interview. Despite assessments that Paramount's board had a high chance of winning the lawsuit, they decided to pay President Trump a settlement of 16 million dollars (approximately 21.7 billion won), after which the FCC approved the merger.
Regarding the recent statement, the Palestinian film workers' association "Filmmakers for Palestine" criticized, "We hope you do not deliberately distort the promise (Israel boycott) to silence our colleagues." Previously, on the 10th, famous actors and directors including Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, and Tilda Swinton declared a boycott, condemning Israel and announcing they would not collaborate with Israeli film institutions or companies.
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