A Hollywood industry group that includes producers Haim Saban, Lawrence Bender, Teddy Schwarzman and others released a statement on Tuesday accusing actor Mark Ruffalo of using “antisemitic tropes” in recent criticism of the Paramount bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.

The statement came from a group calling itself The Brigade, which describes itself as “a group of nearly 1,000 members, friends, and allies of the Jewish community who are proud to be working in film, television, music, Broadway, social and digital, and other platforms in and around the entertainment industry.”

The Brigade condemned what they said was Ruffalo’s use of antisemitic tropes and narratives in an Instagram post last week in which he accused father-and-son moguls David and Larry Ellison of “powering some of the most destructive and inhuman forces in the world.”

In the actor’s August 21 post on Instagram, where he has 20 million followers, Ruffalo posted a past clip of Paramount board member Safra Catz, former CEO of Oracle, discussing “really profoundly scary technologies” that Larry Ellison’s Oracle used to assist the Israeli military following the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack on Israel, when 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza.

Ruffalo referred to Larry Ellison as a “classic Oligarch” in his post, and warned of danger he said was posed by Ellison’s son, Paramount CEO David Ellison, who is bidding to combine Paramount with Warner Bros. Discovery.

The actor has opposed the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger over concerns about Hollywood jobs. He has also long condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank.

In reference to the Catz clip, Ruffalo told his followers to “look how she revels in what we now have come to see as a genocide, which was built on an apartheid system of oppression powered by Oracle.”

Software-maker Oracle has long supplied products to the Israel Defense Forces. The head of its sales division, Shmulik Hauser, told the Ynet news site in 2025 that “supporting Israel is in our DNA – even if it costs us clients. That’s our agenda.” Oracle Israel, a subsidiary of the parent company, has two........

© The Times of Israel