‘The Silence Is Deafening’: Hollywood Companies Tread Lightly in Denouncing Hamas Violence

The CEO of a leading Hollywood conglomerate denounced as “unthinkable evil” the attacks on Israelis by Hamas that left 1,200 dead. But most entertainment companies have remained muted in their public statements this week in the face of a highly volatile and emotional issue — Israeli-Palestinian politics.

Late Wednesday, Paramount issued a statement saying: “We stand with the people of Israel and the global Jewish community,” the clearest and most public statement yet. In an internal memo provided to TheWrap earlier in the day, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said: “The terrorist attacks by Hamas on innocent men, women, children and babies have been unimaginable, abhorrent and inexcusable. Many have lost their lives and others have been taken hostage and remain unaccounted for.”

TheWrap reached out to all the major entertainment conglomerates — including Disney, Netflix, Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery, Sony, Apple, Fox, Lionsgate and NBCUniversal — to see if they intended to weigh in on the violence.

But other than a few studios (also including Lionsgate, which said it was “shocked and saddened” by the events in its own internal memo), a brief condemnation of Hamas from Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel at the Bloomberg Screentime conference on Wednesday and pro-Israel Instagram posts by talent agencies CAA, WME and UTA, Hollywood had little to say about the massacre that riveted the world in its horror.

It is rare for Hollywood studios to comment on current events, but the horrific nature of the tragedy has created more pressure to do so. After all, even Hollywood’s most brutal horror movies do not countenance the nightmare of the slaughter of hundreds of young adults at a music festival or, as confirmed on Wednesday, the beheading of babies and toddlers.

And harsh anti-Israel backlash by ultra-progressives such as student groups at Harvard — who said Israel was “entirely” responsible for the Hamas attack — has left many Jews and their allies furious and eager for public statements of support.

Complicating matters for Hollywood decision makers are numerous factors, including the heavy Jewish presence in the industry, a wave of investment capital from oil-rich Gulf states and a sensitivity to politics-averse Wall Street.

One top Hollywood PR company told TheWrap it was advising its clients on the matter on Wednesday, debating whether it would be better to speak up or duck the issue entirely.

Crisis manager Michael Sitrick told TheWrap that Zaslav limited his risk by speaking out in an internal memo. “You’re really not issuing a statement,” Sitrick said. “You’re writing to your employees, which you have every right to do, and then if it gets leaked, you’re not issuing a public statement.”

PR expert Molly McPherson said some companies were afraid to become targets of criticism themselves. “It is such a complex situation, many people do not understand the historical root of the problem,” she said. “To speak out too much could cause more problems.” 

Deafening Silence

“The silence has been deafening,” Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, told TheWrap of studios’ and other entertainment conglomerates’ reluctance to address the reignited crisis in the Middle East.

“I appreciate the complexity of running a global entertainment company,” he said. “[But] what happened over the weekend wasn’t an attack, it was a massacre. These were terrorists, barbarians, savages. What they did to these people remind us of the most horrifying stories from Rwanda, or the Holocaust.”

He continued: “Some things are difficult. This is easy. Stand with Israel. Stand against terror.”

Greenblatt has been vocal for months about a rising tide of antisemitism that has resulted in an upward spike of racist incidents to what he called “record levels.”

In that environment, speaking out against unspeakable acts of violence is critically important, he said. The decision to remain silent “compounds the anxiety,” Greenblatt added, “and leaves people with a sense of deep, deep concern. It makes them feel like they’re alone.”

In their statements this week, some companies were measured to the point of being anodyne.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy wrote on social media: “I have been in touch with our teammates there to make sure we do everything we can to help support their families and their safety, and to assist however we can in this very difficult time. We’re also in close contact with our humanitarian relief partners on the ground and will be supporting their efforts. Hoping that peace arrives as soon as possible.”

Condé Nast Workers Stand Up

On Tuesday, Condé Nast employees revolted after an HR memo about the attacks struck many as being vague and “both-sidesing” the brutal violence.

“As we witness the horrific ongoing violence in Israel and Gaza, we know many of our colleagues are suffering,” read the memo, sent by chief people officer Stan Duncan.

The following day, CEO Roger Lynch sent his own memo, clarifying the company’s position. “As we have all been witness to the brutal attacks committed on Saturday, and as the reporting continues to show the magnitude of the atrocities, I want to be very clear that we as a company condemn the attack by Hamas against Israel, as well as all acts of terrorism,” he said.

Speaking out on violence — and the loaded term “terrorism” — is quickly becoming its own kind of litmus test for companies and institutions. The complicating factor seems to be the desire by some activists to take the side of Palestinians, who in Gaza have suffered under an Israeli blockade for over a decade. But Gaza is controlled by Hamas, which is devoted to Israel’s destruction.

“It’s perfectly reasonable for a Hollywood studio head to speak on the atrocities,” McPherson said. But with “this type of atrocity, I don’t believe anyone should be judged for speaking out, or choosing not to speak because no one should be incumbent on speaking out on something that is so horrific… Watching the footage, it’s understandable why someone would choose to remain silent.”

Sitrick said Hollywood studios have been slow to issue statements because of fear of putting a foot wrong.

“There’s all of this risk analysis and, in my experience, there are a lot of people internally that are involved in this, including your lawyers,” he said. “You have your outside people, your internal people. So you probably would let your board know before you put it out.”

On navigating the potential blowback from a polarizing statement, Sitrick noted that the job of PR consultant is to say, “‘OK, here are all the various reactions that could happen here. Here’s what we should do about it.’ And we go point by point. And so that doesn’t take a day. It may take a few hours, but you want to be prepared when you go out there and have the infrastructure in place to handle this stuff.”

His advice to CEOs thinking it might be too late to issue their own statement related to Israel: “Don’t worry it’s late. Better late than never. Now, if you put it out two weeks from now, that’s a little late.”

Lucas Manfredi and Sharon Knolle contributed to this story.

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