The Paramount Pictures film company responded to criticism by actor Mark Ruffalo of its planned merger with Warner Brothers, accusing the Marvel Cinematic Universe star of engaging in "antisemitic tropes."
In a rant he posted to Instagram, Ruffalo attacked Paramount Skydance owner David Ellison for being the son of Larry Ellison, whose company Oracle provided assistance to Israel in the wake of the October 7 massacre committed by the Hamas terrorist organization, in which approximately 1,200 people were murdered.
Ruffalo stated that Oracle is "the company that Larry Ellison is using to fund his son David’s Warner Bros acquisition," and repeated the false claim that Israel's response to the massacre Hamas committed constituted a "genocide."
"They are crushing workers and consolidating the wealth of the world for their own power and concentrated dominance," Ruffalo claimed.
CNN's Brian Stelter reported that Paramount stated in response to Ruffalo that "We are, as always, troubled when antisemitic tropes are invoked in purported service of a business dispute. Words like ‘genocide’ and ‘apartheid,’ applied to a corporate transaction, aren’t just wrong - they’re a bridge too far, and they cheapen the very real suffering those words are meant to describe. This doesn't deserve a response in kind - and to be clear, we don’t tolerate prejudice of any kind, against anyone."
The company called "to lower the temperature, not raise it," and stated that "this simply exposes the true motivation of some who have advocated opposition to this transaction."
Ruffalo, best known for his portrayal of Bruce Banner and his alter ego the Incredible Hulk in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has been a frequent critic of Israel over the years, while donwplaying the atrocities committed by Hamas. In October 2020, he told NBC News that Israel was committing a "kind of apartheid" against the Palestinian Arabs. He has questioned whether Hamas uses human shields and whether the terrorist group was responsible for the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in 2014.
In 2021, Rufallo was forced to apologize after he accused Israel of genocide in a previous conflict in Gaza sparked by the firing of thousands of rockets at Israeli cities by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization, a charge he renewed after the latest conflict began with the Hamas massacre.
Ruffalo most recently appeared as a supporting character in the hit film, 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day,' in which he reprised his Bruce Banner character. The film has already made well over $2.3 billion, dominating the domestic and global box office.