Hundreds of Jewish entertainers, creators and executives have signed a letter denouncing Jonathan Glazer for the speech he recently gave at the Oscars, in which he called out Israel for its “occupation” of Palestine.
The letter — whose signees include Debra Messing, Julianna Margulies, Brett Gelman, Amy Sherman-Palladino, Eli Roth, Amy Pascal, Sherry Lansing, Michael Rapaport, among others — reads, “We refute our Jewishness being hijacked for the purpose of drawing a moral equivalence between a Nazi regime that sought to exterminate a race of people, and an Israeli nation that seeks to avert its own extermination,” per Variety.
At this year’s Oscars, Glazer used Zone of Interest‘s win for Best International Feature Film to speak out on the Israel-Palestine conflict, saying, “All of our choices were made to reflect and confront us in the present, not to say look what they did then, rather, look what we do now.”
Glazer continued, “Our film shows where dehumanization leads, at its worst. It shaped all of our past and present. Right now, we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people. Whether the victims of October the 7th in Israel, or the ongoing attack on Gaza, or the victims of this dehumanization. How do we resist?”
His film is a drama about the family of Rudolf Höss, Nazi commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp, as they try to live a normal life right beside the camp.
Glazer received much applause after his rousing speech, including from Poor Things star Mark Ruffalo, who was one of several celebs wearing an Artists4Ceasefire pin that evening.
An insider with knowledge of how the letter came to be told The Hollywood Reporter that they saw Glazer’s speech as a “turning point.”
“It’s taken off in a way that we never expected. People who were more comfortable staying on the sidelines have decided they can no longer remain silent,” they said.
The letter points specifically to Glazer’s use of “occupation,” arguing that the word “distorts history.”
“It gives credence to the modern blood libel that fuels a growing anti-Jewish hatred around the world, in the United States, and in Hollywood,” the letter reads. “The current climate of growing antisemitism only underscores the need for the Jewish State of Israel, a place which will always take us in, as no state did during the Holocaust depicted in Mr. Glazer’s film.”
Amidst the controversy Glazer has faced, his speech has also been compared to the speech Sacheen Littlefeather gave in 1972 when she refused the Best Actor award on behalf of Marlon Brando, in which she called out the film industry for its treatment of Native Americans.
Zone of Interest executive producer Lee Blavatnik, who was standing with Glazer on the Oscars stage, later clarified that the director did not “clear the speech” with him before delivering it that evening.
A spokesperson for Blavatnik also shared a statement to Variety, saying, “His long-standing support of Israel is unwavering.”