A few days ago, Susan Sarandon attended a pro-Palestinian rally in New York. She spoke to the rally-goers, saying that Jewish people are “getting a taste of what it feels like to be Muslim.” Then she joined in with the chant “From the river to the sea,” a chant with a complicated history but widely considered as a call for the destruction of Israel. UTA promptly dropped Sarandon as a client. The Sarandon thing is, in my opinion, obvious and blatant antisemitism and a sideshow to the more nuanced conversations and arguments being had in Hollywood and beyond. Variety did a larger breakdown on the massive fissures appearing within Hollywood and Hollywood agencies since the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7th, where Hamas murdered 1200 Israelis and kidnapped hundreds. Following the 10/7 attack, thousands of Palestinians have been killed by the IDF.

The CAA issue with Maha Dakhil: Across town, the agency’s fiercest rival, CAA, was dealing with a crisis. Maha Dakhil, one of its top agents, had ignited a firestorm with her Instagram posts, including one that said, “What’s more heartbreaking than witnessing genocide? Witnessing the denial that genocide is happening.” In response, Dakhil was relieved of her duties as co-chief the motion pictures department, though she was allowed to remain an agent. It didn’t hurt that her most important client, Tom Cruise, made it known to CAA that he was backing her. Cruise met with Dakhil at her CAA office on Nov. 15. A knowledgeable source says he took the rare step of going in person to show support for his embattled agent. But the Dakhil issue didn’t end there. A group of CAA assistants threatened to walk out over the agency’s treatment of her, sources say. They believed she was being railroaded by management but ultimately abandoned their threat. At the same time, some of the agents who complained internally about Dakhil’s posts felt disillusioned, believing she should have been fired.

No one is on the same page: From power brokers to the rank and file, a growing number are incensed by the hostile rhetoric surrounding Israel and the lack of solidarity, even as some 240 hostages continue to be held by Hamas. Others feel a kinship with the Palestinian cause and believe Israel is the aggressor. The polarization is notable because the industry has largely presented a united front when it comes to politics, from its blanket opposition to former President Trump to its uniform support of reproductive rights. But when it comes to Israel, the cracks are showing.

Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt: “There’s just no excuse for not condemning Hamas and demanding the release of the hostages. Hollywood was quick to declare Black Lives Matter, as they should, and Time’s Up, as they should, and myriad other important causes. There’s plenty of room for criticism of Israel or to voice concerns about the ongoing war in Gaza, but that doesn’t provide celebrities and industry reps with an open license to wage unfair accusations against Israel, such as accusing it of ‘apartheid’ or ‘genocide’ or, worse, to celebrate the actions of Hamas terrorists.”

Melissa Barrera was fired from the Scream franchise: Some have had enough. Spyglass quietly dropped Melissa Barrera as the star of the next “Scream” film, sources say, due to her social media posts that referred to Israel as a “colonized” land and floated an antisemitic trope that Jews control the media, writing: “Western media only shows the [Israeli] side. Why do they do that, I will let you deduce for yourself.” Barrera did not respond to a request for comment. Spyglass initially declined comment, though a spokesperson offered a statement to Variety later in the afternoon to clarify that the actor was fired because her posts were seen as antisemitic: “Spyglass’ stance is unequivocally clear: We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech.”

Marc Platt vs Boots Riley: Likewise, insiders say “La La Land” producer Marc Platt texted WME leadership about why Boots Riley was still a client after the “Sorry to Bother You” writer-director urged his followers on X to boycott an industry screening of footage of Hamas atrocities at the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. He dubbed the footage “murderous propaganda” and warning that “when IDF and Israeli officials are at The Hague for war crimes, massacres and genocidal actions- you wont want your name or image to have been anywhere near it.”However, Riley remains an agency client. A Platt rep says he merely flagged the posts.

[From Variety]

Tom Cruise went to CAA personally to stand up for his agent Maha Dakhil? That alone probably saved her job. The Melissa Barrera situation is shocking to me though – they had groomed her to be the face of the franchise, the “Sydney” of the reboot, and she’d already starred in two Scream movies. The fact that Spyglass still fired her will likely have a chilling effect for a lot of young actors posting on social media about Israel and Palestine.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.