‘A bridge too far’: Paramount brands Ruffalo’s attack on Warner Bros. merger ‘antisemitic’

Paramount accused actor Mark Ruffalo of invoking antisemitic tropes on Friday after he tied the Ellison family’s proposed $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery to Oracle’s support for Israel and the war in Gaza.

Ruffalo shared an Instagram video of Oracle Executive Vice Chair Safra Catz discussing technological assistance the company provided to Israel after the Hamas-led October 7 massacre. Catz said Oracle had made unspecified “profoundly scary technology” available to the Israeli military and carried out other work she could not discuss.

The Marvel star said Oracle was helping Larry Ellison finance his son David’s acquisition and warned that its technology could become part of one of the world’s largest media conglomerates and eventually be “used on you.” He accused Catz of reveling in what he called a “genocide” built upon an “apartheid system of oppression powered by Oracle,” and branded Larry Ellison a “classic oligarch.”

In a statement to The Wrap, Paramount said it was troubled when “antisemitic tropes are invoked in purported service of a business dispute.” It said applying the terms “genocide” and “apartheid” to the transaction was “a bridge too far” and cheapened genuine suffering.

“This doesn’t deserve a response in kind,” Paramount added. “This simply exposes the true motivation of some who have advocated opposition to this transaction.”

Ruffalo has campaigned against the merger for months, arguing that it would eliminate thousands of Hollywood jobs and concentrate excessive wealth and editorial power in the Ellison family. The deal is being challenged on antitrust grounds by 12 US states. The actor has also repeatedly targeted Israel over the Gaza war, calling for its “boycott, divestment, sanctions and prosecution.”

Ruffalo rejected Paramount’s accusation in an X post an on Saturday as “appalling and fundamentally dishonest,” saying criticism of Israel’s prime minister, military technology contracts or the executives behind them was not criticism of Jewish people. He professed “deep love and respect” for Jews.