by MICHAEL ARRIA
Hollywood. It’s associated with a variety of causes, but you’d be hard-pressed to find many that are overtly political. For instance, Republicans believe award shows are a cascade of left-wing propaganda, but who can forget Michael Moore getting booed for having the temerity to tell the truth about Iraq?
Palestine is quite obviously a third rail issue for celebs. There has been an increasing amount of entertainers showing support in recent years, but that numbers remains extremely small in the scheme of things. This week we are learning why.
First, Susan Sarandon was dropped from United Talent Agency for comments she made at a Palestine rally. The incriminating remark seems to be, “There are a lot of people that are afraid, that are afraid of being Jewish at this time, and are getting a taste of how it feels to be Muslim in this country.”
Then actress Melissa Barrera was dropped from the upcoming Scream 7 over a social media post she made about the issue.
Here’s the statement that Spyglass Media, the production company behind the movie, made on Tuesday: “Spyglass’ stance is unequivocally clear: We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech.”
Barrera’s firing and the subsequent statement suggests she spread antisemitic disinformation, but the post in question doesn’t even mention Jewish people and certainly doesn’t distort The Holocaust.
“I have been actively looking for videos and information about the Palestinian side for the last 2 weeks or so, following accounts etc. Why? Because western media only shows the other side. Why they do that, I will let you deduce for yourself,” it read.
“Usually, the algorithm on social media gets the gist,” it continued. “Well…My discover page on IG will ONLY show me videos showing and talking about the Israeli side. Censorship is very real. Palestinians know this, they know the world has been trying to make them invisible for decades. Keep sharing.”
The censorship of Palestine voices is a well-established fact, not some grand conspiracy. The only antisemitic part of this story is Spyglass’ explanation for why they let their film’s lead actor go, as they’re associating Israel with all Jewish people.
Barrera told the press that she’s not the only one leaving the set and there’s reports that Jenna Ortega (who is also slated to appear in the movie) has asked to have her contract terminated over the decision. However, the only public statement we have so far beyond Barrera’s comes from director Christopher Landon and it’s strikingly pathetic: “?Everything sucks. Stop yelling. This was not my decision to make.”
Okay.
Finally, we turn to the the case of Maha Dakhil, 48, who is a popular agent at Creative Artists Agency (CAA). She faced intense criticism over a social media post last month.“What’s more heartbreaking than witnessing genocide?,” she had written. “Witnessing the denial that genocide is happening.”
The backlash to this commonsense observation forced Dakhil to delete the post, make her account private, apologize, and resign from her leadership position with the organization. Now a new report reveals that Tom Cruise (who is one of her clients) stepped into to help protect her job and assist her in navigating the criticism. This from a Variety article by Tatiana Siegel on the situation:
“It didn’t hurt that her most important client, Tom Cruise, made it known to CAA that he was backing her. Cruise met with Dakhil at her CAA office on Nov. 15. A knowledgeable source says he took the rare step of going in person to show support for his embattled agent.”
“But the Dakhil issue didn’t end there. A group of CAA assistants threatened to walk out over the agency’s treatment of her, sources say. They believed she was being railroaded by management but ultimately abandoned their threat. At the same time, some of the agents who complained internally about Dakhil’s posts felt disillusioned, believing she should have been fired. Separately, CAA cut ties with a staffer and two clients over incendiary anti-Israeli social media posts.”
Mondoweiss for more