Paramount responds to Mark Ruffalo's merger criticism

Actor Mark Ruffalo has sparked controversy following social media posts criticizing the proposed $110 billion merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery. Ruffalo accused the Ellison family—specifically David Ellison and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison—of powering “destructive and inhuman forces” and suggested the transaction was linked to what he termed a “genocide.”

Paramount responded by condemning the use of “antisemitic tropes” in the context of a business dispute. A company spokesperson stated that applying terms like “genocide” and “apartheid” to a corporate transaction is “wrong” and “cheapens the very real suffering those words are meant to describe.” The studio maintained its commitment to all storytellers and expressed hope that the merger would be judged on legal merits rather than bias.

In response to accusations of antisemitism, more than 170 individuals, including Jewish artists and various academics and activists, signed a letter denouncing what they described as an “outrageous smear campaign” against Ruffalo. The signatories included several recognizable Hollywood figures alongside anti-Israel activists and rabbis.