BS BULLETIN:
- George Clooney defended Mark Ruffalo amid the actor’s escalating controversy over comments about the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger and Israel, saying he supports Ruffalo’s right to “speak freely.”
- Actor James Woods fired back, accusing Clooney and other Hollywood liberals of discovering a newfound appreciation for free speech only when the person under fire shares their politics.
- Ruffalo has denied allegations that his comments invoked antisemitic tropes, while Paramount has condemned his rhetoric and numerous Hollywood figures have rallied to his defense.
George Clooney says free speech means defending people even when you disagree with what they’re saying.
James Woods has a question: Where has that principle been hiding?
Woods lit into Clooney after the Hollywood star publicly defended fellow actor Mark Ruffalo amid a growing controversy surrounding Ruffalo’s attacks on the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger and the Ellison family behind Paramount.
Speaking at the Venice Film Festival, Clooney said he supports Ruffalo’s “ability to speak freely.” “We’re not going to ban speech,” Clooney said. “I believe in free speech even when I completely disagree with it.”
That didn’t impress Woods. Responding on X, the outspoken conservative actor accused Clooney of embracing free speech selectively and suggested Hollywood has shown considerably less tolerance when conservative performers express unpopular political opinions.
Woods knows something about that argument. He has repeatedly said his outspoken conservative politics damaged his Hollywood career and has been among the entertainment industry’s loudest critics of what he considers ideological intolerance toward conservatives.
His criticism of Clooney came as Hollywood support for Ruffalo continued to grow. Ruffalo ignited the controversy while attacking Paramount Skydance’s proposed $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
His criticism extended beyond the business implications of the merger to the Ellison family and Oracle’s connections to Israel. David Ellison runs Paramount Skydance, while his father, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, is a major shareholder. Ruffalo accused the family of complicity in what he described as the “genocide” of Palestinians and criticized Oracle’s technological relationship with Israel.
Paramount pushed back sharply. “We are, as always, troubled when antisemitic tropes are invoked in purported service of a business dispute,” the company said.
Ruffalo vehemently denied being antisemitic. “The accusation that I am antisemitic is appalling and fundamentally dishonest,” he responded, arguing that criticism of Israel, corporate executives or military technology contracts should not be equated with hostility toward Jewish people.
Since then, the dispute has mushroomed into a broader Hollywood free-speech battle. More than 190 Jewish artists and entertainers have signed an open letter supporting Ruffalo, while other prominent Hollywood figures have publicly defended him.
Clooney joined them Wednesday. “I will always support Mark Ruffalo’s ability to speak freely,” he said, according to The Guardian. “I like him. He’s a good man.”
Clooney didn’t endorse everything Ruffalo said. In fact, he specifically framed his position around the principle that free speech includes defending speech with which someone disagrees.
Woods’ point is different. He wants to know whether Hollywood intends to apply that same principle when the speaker isn’t Mark Ruffalo — and the politics aren’t popular in Hollywood. And that’s how a fight over a $111 billion media merger somehow became another Hollywood culture-war battle.
MY QUICK TAKE
George Clooney’s principle is actually a good one: free speech matters most when you don’t like what’s being said.
James Woods’ challenge is pretty simple. Great. Let’s use that rule for everybody. If Hollywood has truly rediscovered that principle, wonderful.
James Woods just wants to see the receipt.
DBS WIRE SOURCES
- Twitchy — James Woods has a few choice words for George Clooney about Mark Ruffalo and ‘free speech’
- Variety — Clooney defends Ruffalo’s ‘ability to speak freely’
- Breitbart — Clooney defends Ruffalo amid antisemitism controversy
- Page Six — Hollywood support grows for Ruffalo
