Actors who have been punished for speaking out on Israel-Palestine war

Monitoring Desk

LOS ANGELES: Since the start of the Israel-Palestine war, Hollywood has been riven by conflict of its own.

Unlike other recent social or political conflicts, many people in the entertainment industry are publicly divided over whether their greater sympathies lie with the Israeli or Palestinian people.

This conflict has so far led to three prominent actresses getting fired from jobs or agencies for expressing their opinions, one for her pro-Israel beliefs and two for their solidarity with Palestine.

Mexican telenovela actress and American scream queen Melissa Barrera posted controversial remarks about the war on her social media, which is why she’s been booted from Scream 7.

Insider sources told The Hollywood Reporter that Barrera’s pro-Palestine stance is ultimately what got her slashed from the slasher.

Since the start of the conflict in October, Barrera has been posting messages critical of the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza, comparing the territory to a “concentration camp” and accusing Israel of “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing.”

But one post in particular pushed Spyglass Media Group, the company behind the Scream franchise, over the edge.

Barrera wrote, “Western media only shows the [Israeli] side. Why do they do that, I will let you deduce for yourself.”

Spyglass interpreted this as perpetuating an antisemitic stereotype that Jews control the media. “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,” a Spyglass spokesperson told Variety.

Oscar winner Susan Sarandon is no stranger to political controversy, having been a left-wing activist since the early 1980s, championing numerous progressive causes that have either boosted or dented her career over the years.

(Just this past May, the Hollywood Walk-of-Famer was arrested at the New York State Capitol during a protest that pushed for tipped restaurant workers to get paid minimum wage.)

Sarandon has been openly critical of Israel since at least May 2021, when she tweeted: “I stand with the Palestinian People fighting against the apartheid government of Netanyahu and pray for the Israeli people that they too, will enjoy peace.

I also support Bella Hadid for having the bravery to stand in solidarity with her people. That can be lonely.

“Sarandon became more vocal about her opinions regarding the longtime Israel-Palestine conflict, which pre-dates the current crisis by several decades, after executive producing Soufra, a documentary set in a Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut, Lebanon.

Prolific voice actress Tara Strong — known for voicing iconic animated characters like Timmy Turner, Bubbles, Harley Quinn and most recently Loki’s Miss Minutes — was fired from upcoming indie adult toon Boxtown due to her posts over the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Early in the conflict, Strong posted or liked (and then un-liked) posts on social media that were critical of pro-Palestine protests, some of which were were interpreted as Islamophobic.

This led to Boxtown’s producers dropping her from the show.

“This decision was due to a trend among Tara’s recent online activity, including posts that promote controversial messages regarding the peoples of Palestine currently being affected by the ongoing Israel-Palestine crisis,” Bandit Mill Animation, the company producing Boxtown, said in a statement.

“We believe that our public platform gives us a duty to be careful when it comes to hateful messages and misinformation online.

This extends to our cast and crew. This was not a difficult decision,” the company added.