Hollywood has a new cause — and neutrality isn’t an option.
The entertainment industry’s latest tribal loyalty test is “Free Palestine,” replacing last month’s anti-ICE pins and last year’s climate hysteria. Stars who stay silent — or worse, refuse to denounce Israel — face career consequences, boycotts, and public shaming from their own peers.
Ed Sheeran learned this the hard way. The singer removed pro-Palestinian rapper Macklemore from his current tour after pressure from venue owners. Now the media paints Sheeran as the villain — even though he’s tried to stay neutral.
Radio stations ditched Sheeran’s music. His own band members fled the tour. All because he didn’t protect Macklemore from the fallout of his own lectures.
Monolithic celebrity culture allows only one argument, one side of a given debate. Neutrality isn’t an option.
The Palestinian cause now dominates awards shows, film festivals, and junket interviews. Javier Bardem, Emma Stone, and Mark Ruffalo have all vowed to boycott Israel’s film industry. Some do all of the above, like Oscar winner Bardem.
At the recent Venice Film Festival, an anti-Israel film titled “NAZA” received a record-breaking 25-minute standing ovation — a response with more than a little virtue signaling.
Veteran actor Matthew Lillard apologized for appearing in the most recent “Scream” sequel months after it grossed $121 million at the U.S. box office. His crime? Taking a role after the studio fired actress Melissa Barrera for comments so toxic about Israel that the studio sacked her.
Lillard now regrets being 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.”
The pattern is familiar. Quite a few celebrities spoke out after the October 7 atrocities — they signed open letters and made sure their outrage had a public outlet. But they stopped. Quickly.
Now the cause has flipped. Celebrities have memory-holed those events, 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.
Their collective gaunt visage was lost on celebrities, too.
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 took years to fade to black.
When Hollywood latches onto a cause, they jump in with two oversized feet. Now it’s the Palestinian cause’s close-up.
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.
The dirty little secret? Most stars likely know very little about the Israel-Palestinian divide.
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 a named anti-ICE activist. 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.
