Warner Bros Discovery has rebuked a pledge signed by more than 4,000 film industry figures to not work with Israeli film institutions “implicated in the genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people”, saying that such a pledge would likely violate its internal policies.
In a statement to Variety, a spokesperson said the company “is committed to fostering an inclusive and respectful environment for its employees, collaborators, and other stakeholders”.
It continues: “Our policies prohibit discrimination of any kind, including discrimination based on race, religion, national origin or ancestry. We believe a boycott of Israeli film institutions violates our policies. While we respect the rights of individuals and groups to express their views and advocate for causes, we will continue to align our business practices with the requirements of our policies and the law.”
Industry luminaries including Javier Bardem, Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo signed the pledge, organized and published last month by the group Film Workers for Palestine, that commits signatories not to screen films, appear at or otherwise work with what it considers complicit institutions – including festivals, cinemas, broadcasters and production companies. According to the pledge, complicity includes “whitewashing or justifying genocide and apartheid, and/or partnering with the government committing them”.
An FAQ section specified that the pledge, inspired by a boycott of cultural institutions that contributed to the end of apartheid in South Africa, didn’t prohibit signees from working with Israeli individuals, but targeted national institutions.
“The call is for film workers to refuse to work with Israeli institutions that are complicit in Israel’s human rights abuses against the Palestinian people,” read a statement announcing the pledge. “This refusal takes aim at institutional complicity, not identity. There are also 2 million Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, and Palestinian civil society has developed context sensitive guidelines for that community.”
“We answer the call of Palestinian film-makers, who have urged the international film industry to refuse silence, racism and dehumanization, as well as to ‘do everything humanly possible’ to end complicity in their oppression,” it added.
Days after publication, Paramount became the first studio to respond to the boycott, when Melissa Zukerman, the chief communications officer, said the company did “not agree with recent efforts to boycott Israeli film-makers”.
In a statement, the company, which was recently acquired by the family of billionaire Larry Ellison and private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners, said that “the global entertainment industry should be encouraging artists to tell their stories and share their ideas with audiences throughout the world” and that “silencing individual creative artists based on their nationality does not promote better understanding or advance the cause of peace”.
In its own statement, Film Workers for Palestine pointed out Ellison’s close relationship with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and said that the pledge does not target individuals based on their identity, but rather boycotts “complicit Israeli film institutions and companies”.
“We sincerely hope that Paramount, in its statement today, isn’t intentionally misrepresenting the pledge in an attempt to silence our colleagues in the film industry,” the organization added. “Such a move would only shield a genocidal regime from criticism at a time when global outrage is exponentially growing and while meaningful steps towards accountability are being taken by many.”
Warners Bros Discovery’s rejection of the boycott comes after Variety reported that the group UK Lawyers for Israel sent a legal letter to the UK offices of Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros Discovery and others warning that such a pledge would violate the country’s 2010 Equality Act, making it “highly likely to be a litigation risk”.
Separately, 1,200 entertainment figures, including Liev Schreiber, Debra Messing and Mayim Bialik, signed an open letter rejecting the boycott as a “document of misinformation” from artists “misled into amplifying antisemitic propaganda”.
Last week, Israel and Hamas agreed to the initial phase of a ceasefire, pausing two years of violence in which Israel destroyed more than 90% of homes in Gaza and killed more than 67,000 Palestinians in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing 1,139 people and taking another 240 hostage. On Monday, Hamas released the remaining 20 living hostages in Gaza as part of a swap in which Israel released nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees, while world leaders met in hopes of maintaining a fragile peace.
