Susan Sarandon has shared that her support for Palestine has led to her losing film roles and that parts of the film industry continue to shun her over her activism.
The 79-year-old American actress spoke at the Venice Film Festival about how her stance on Israel’s actions in Gaza has affected her work: “In terms of the power structure, I’ve still had movies taken away recently because there are agencies that are telling people not to hire me still.”
The Oscar-winning actress noted that despite losing out on film roles she feels “the narrative has completely changed in terms of the historical relevance of Palestine and the ties of Zionists with America in our politics”.
She added: “That has been a major revelation for people, how much money the United States gives to Israel, nobody really understood that.”
Recent opinion polls have shown a distinct softening in US support for Israel since the start of the Gaza war in 2023. According to a July survey from Pew Research Center, US public opinion toward both the Israeli people and the Israeli government has grown increasingly negative and Americans now view the Palestinian people nearly as favourably as they view the Israeli people.
Sarandon was attending a press conference for her upcoming film The Echo Chamber, and thanked director Andrea Pallaoro for not “listening to the warnings” from those opposed to her working in cinema.
The veteran star of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Thelma & Louise and Dead Man Walking has been one of Hollywood’s most outspoken pro-Palestinian campaigners, alongside others like Joaquin Phoenix, Javier Bardem, and Marc Ruffalo, and was dropped by her talent agency UTA in 2023 after remarks she made while attending pro-Palestinian rallies one month after the Hamas attack on Israel.
Her words anchor themselves in growing fears regarding Hollywood blacklisting,and follow comments made by George Clooney, who came to the defence of Mark Ruffalo following accusations of antisemitism.
Speaking at the Venice Film Festival, where he received the festival’s Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, Clooney defended Ruffalo’s right to criticise the proposed $111bn Paramount takeover of Warner Bros Discovery.
“I worry when a big company swallows up another company,” Clooney said. “I always worry whenever big companies are consolidating because it means a lot of people are going to lose their jobs.”
He continued: “I support Mark Ruffalo’s ability to speak freely. We’re not going to ban speech. I believe in free speech even when I completely disagree with it. That’s important, right? In fact, it’s part of how a democracy works.”
He added: “There are going to be people tonight in the room that are going to disagree with most everything I say or stand for. Fair enough. That’s how it’s supposed to be. We’re supposed to argue these things out and come to a conclusion based on the information that we take in … I will always support Mark Ruffalo’s ability to speak freely. I like him. He’s a good man.”
Ruffalo had previously expressed concern regarding the proposed studio merger over its potential consequences for Hollywood, while also turning his criticism on the family behind Paramount. David Ellison, the company’s chief executive, is the son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison. Ruffalo accused the Ellison family of being complicit the “genocide” of Palestinians, arguing that it was “built on an apartheid system of oppression powered by Oracle”.
Ruffalo highlighted Oracle’s ties to the Israeli military, and his comments prompted a backlash from Paramount, which accused him of invoking antisemitic tropes.
Ruffalo rejected the accusation and more than 170 Jewish artists, academics and public figures subsequently signed an open letter defending the actor, warning against attempts to silence criticism of Israel or the proposed merger.
The open letter titled “Enough!”, signed by the likes of Joel Coen, Joaquin Phoenix, Ilana Glazer, Todd Haynes and Hannah Einbinder, read: “We are Jewish artists, writers, creative professionals, faith leaders and thinkers who have, in response to the outrageous smear campaign against our respected colleague Mark Ruffalo, a simple message to share with the world: Enough!”.
“Enough with the false and dangerous weaponization of charges of antisemitism against those who are brave enough to point out the obvious: that the assault on the Palestinian people and the assault on our liberties at home are deeply interconnected, and there is nothing antisemitic about recognizing that fact.”
The letter notes that the proposed merger of Paramount and Warner Brothers Discovery will “destroy thousands upon thousands of livelihoods” and “further consolidate the oligarchic control of our media” as part of a “larger project of tech-driven domination.”
“Larry Ellison and his partners have never been shy about trumpeting – and one they themselves have explicitly linked to their support for the ongoing depredations being visited on the people of Palestine and their silencing of critics of those horrors,” the letter reads.
The letter ends with the signatories stating that they “stand proudly with Mark Ruffalo, and with all decent people who are bravely rising and speaking truth to power.”
Susan Sarandon stars in The Echo Chamber, which is one of 21 films competing for Venice’s Golden Lion award. The prize will be presented on 12 September.