Hollywood Stars Push ‘Free Palestine’ Cause While Ignoring October 7 Atrocities

Clear Facts

• Celebrities including Javier Bardem, Emma Stone, and Mark Ruffalo have publicly called for a boycott of Israel’s film industry.
• Matthew Lillard apologized for appearing in the latest “Scream” sequel after the studio removed actress Melissa Barrera over her anti-Israel remarks following the October 7 attacks.
• Ed Sheeran faced backlash and lost radio play after removing Macklemore from his tour due to the rapper’s antisemitic statements.

Quite a few entertainers spoke out after the October 7 atrocities. They signed open letters and made sure their outrage had a public outlet.

Good for them. Yet, given how cataclysmic the events proved, and the sheer barbarism of that day, many more should have spoken up and never stopped talking.

But stop they did. And quickly, too, despite the ongoing hostage crisis.

Now, the cause du jour is on the other side of the argument. Celebrities have memory-holed those attacks, both the larger context and the specific barbarism involved.

They no longer recognize Israel’s right to fight back, let alone that it took more than two years for Hamas to return the living hostages.

The Hollywood cool kids now cry, “Free Palestine” whenever they’re within 50 feet of a microphone. Bonus points for donning a keffiyeh.

It’s the new Climate Change Will Kill Us All … or Judge Kavanaugh is a rapist … or Trump colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 election. The latter cause célèbre took years to fade to black.

Just know that when Hollywood latches onto a cause, they jump in with two oversized feet. Now, it’s the Palestinian cause’s close-up.

Some stars deploy pins on awards show red carpets to spread the pro-Palestinian talking point. Others rage against Israel in junket interviews. Even more have vowed to boycott Israel’s film industry.

Some do all of the above, like Oscar winner Bardem. But why?

Publicity and praise are the currency of today’s Hollywood. Celebrities get political for many reasons, but one is to let each other know they hold the “correct” opinions.

The Left’s “correct” opinion on the Israeli/Palestinian divide is simple. Oppressor and oppressed. Never mind the messy and necessary details.

Ed Sheeran is learning this lesson the hard way. The singer had to remove pro-Palestinian rapper Macklemore from his current tour after pressure from several venue owners.

Agree or disagree, now the media is painting Sheeran as the villain, even though he’s burned sizable calories being as neutral as possible on the matter.

Radio stations are ditching Sheeran’s music and his own band members have fled the tour. All because he somehow didn’t protect Macklemore from the fallout from his own lectures.

Will a single celebrity, singer, or artist stand up for Sheeran? Not a chance. Monolithic celebrity culture allows only one argument, one side of a given debate.

Sheeran didn’t even take a side, but that’s not sufficient. You have to endorse The Cause. Neutrality isn’t an option. And to stand up for Sheeran is to risk professional blowback, and that’s something very few artists are willing to risk – even if it’s the right call.

The Palestinian cause is so omnipresent it nearly overtakes film festivals. The recent Venice Film Festival had a pre-event meltdown over whether the assembled stars would take part in a jury press conference as they’ve had in past years.

And, when a violently anti-Israel film, “NAZA,” graced the festival, the assembled audience gave the film a record-breaking 25-minute standing ovation.

That response has more than a little virtue signaling.

Veteran actor Matthew Lillard is no dummy when it comes to the superficial stakes, understanding what it takes to be with the “in” crowd — or at least among the ones who get steady jobs. He sees all his fellow artists jumping on the “free Palestine” bandwagon, and he wants in. So he apologized for taking a role in the most recent “Scream” sequel months after it hit theaters and grossed $121 million at the U.S. box office.

Lillard apologized for appearing in the project, one that initially included actress Melissa Barrera. The starlet raged against Israel in the weeks following October 7, with comments so toxic that the studio behind the horror saga sacked her.

Now, Lillard regrets being a part of it all.

I feel ashamed about that. Because in that moment I was so excited to go back, I didn’t really think about Melissa and that journey … I’m embarrassed, that’s the truth… I blew that. I’m on the wrong side of history for that. I still like being in the movie [but] it may not have been the best idea.

Not so long ago, climate change dominated the celebrity circuit. The stars either spoke out about the matter, funded documentaries on the subject or, in the case of Leonardo DiCaprio, both.

Major films like “Geostorm,” “Snowpiercer,” “Don’t Look Up” and “2012” all traded heavily on that eco-panic.

Recent polling suggests that climate change is fading in the public eye. What better time than to pivot to the Middle East?

So will we see a crush of “Free Palestine”-themed films moving forward? Unlikely. The industry has already made a few documentaries hitting on that theme, but it’s hardly box-office catnip, so we can expect the movement to continue with low-budget docs over features with A-listers like Brad Pitt or Jessica Chastain.

The dirty little secret? Most stars likely know very little about the Israel/Palestinian divide. Heck, Susan Sarandon once denied that Hamas committed mass rapes during the October 7 atrocities. Former Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg filmed a documentary on the subject, letting survivors share the ghoulish stories they witnessed.

Doesn’t Sarandon believe all women?

Just a few months ago, Celebrity Nation rallied against ICE. ICE out! was last month’s “Free Palestine!” Rockers even penned odes to slain anti-ICE activist Renee Good. If you had a pin on the red carpet, it referenced the illegal immigration task force in some capacity.

Chances are, the upcoming awards season will find those pins discarded for the new flavor of the month.

That’s assuming the collective, agreed-upon messaging doesn’t change, again, in just a few short weeks.

Let us know what you think, please share your thoughts in the comments below.