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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/Arts&Culture/stars-turn-emmys-red-carpet-into-a-call-to-end-gaza-genocide">english.almayadeen.net</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Stars turn Emmys red carpet into a call to end Gaza genocide</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Al Mayadeen English</div>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">September 14, 2025</div>
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<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><p>Hannah
Einbinder, Ruth Negga, Chris Perfetti, and Aimee Lou Wood have attended
the ceremony sporting red pins from the Artists4Ceasefire campaign.</p><div><ul id="gmail-content-slick-0"><div aria-hidden="false"><li>
<a href="https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2025/9/15/c5e68e5a-7623-448a-8d18-d98607bcbaa8.jpg?v=4&width=1000" tabindex="0"><img src="https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2025/9/15/c5e68e5a-7623-448a-8d18-d98607bcbaa8.jpg?v=4&width=1000&preset=w650" alt="Stars turn Emmys red carpet into a call to end Gaza genocide" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img"></a>
Javier Bardem arrives at the 77th Emmy Awards on Sunday,
Sept. 14, 2025 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles wearing a
Palestinian Koufiyyeh in solidarity with Gaza (Photo by Jordan
Strauss/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Content Services)
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<p>This year\u2019s Emmy Awards ceremony became an unprecedented platform for condemning the ongoing <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/health/doctors-report-alarming-pattern-of-gaza-children-shot-in-hea" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Israeli genocide in Gaza</a>, as several actors used speeches and symbolic gestures to voice solidarity with the <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/famine--massacres--and-relentless-strikes-turning-gaza-to--w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Palestinian people</a>.</p>
<p>While accepting the award for best supporting actress in a comedy for
Hacks, Hannah Einbinder delivered a pointed conclusion to her speech.
After sharply criticizing US immigration authorities and denouncing the
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, she closed with a clear
appeal: \u201cFree Palestine".</p>
<p>Before the show began, Einbinder\u2019s co-star, Megan Stalter, made her
stance clear, carrying a bag on the red carpet emblazoned with the words
\u201cCease fire!\u201d</p>
<p>Hannah Einbinder, Ruth Negga, Chris Perfetti, and Aimee Lou Wood
attended the ceremony sporting red pins from the Artists4Ceasefire
campaign.</p>
<p>Actor Javier Bardem, nominated for best supporting actor in a limited
or anthology series or movie for Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez
Story, appeared wearing a Palestinian Koufiyyeh. Speaking to <em>The Hollywood Reporter</em>,
he strongly criticized \u201cIsrael\u2019s\u201d genocide in Gaza, citing the
International Association of Genocide Scholars\u2019 admission that it
amounts to genocide. Bardem called for a \u201ccommercial and diplomatic
blockade\u201d and sanctions on the Israeli occupation, closing with the
appeal: \u201cFree Palestine.\u201d</p>
<p>The Spanish star also highlighted a pledge signed by himself and more than 4,000 filmmakers, <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/Arts&Culture/1-200--film-figures-vow-boycott-of--israel--over-gaza-genoci" target="_blank" rel="noopener">committing not to collaborate with Israeli institutions</a> unless they distance themselves from the war.</p>
<p>\u201cWe do not target individuals by their identity,\u201d he said, explaining
that the boycott focuses on \u201ccomplicit film companies and institutions
involved in whitewashing or justifying the genocide of Israel in Gaza
and its apartheid regime.\u201d</p>
<p>Bardem went further, vowing he would \u201cnever work\u201d with any production
firm that fails to condemn the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza. He
acknowledged the stance might impact his career but dismissed the risk,
saying that if it meant fewer roles, that would be \u201cabsolutely
irrelevant compared to what is going on there.\u201d</p>
<p>As the Israeli-made famine in Gaza worsens by the day, a growing
number of prominent stars are voicing support for Palestine. Bardem,
Wood, and Einbinder are among the actors who have pledged to boycott
Israeli companies and institutions they say are \u201cimplicated in genocide
and apartheid against the Palestinian people.\u201d</p>
<h2>Film figures vow boycott of 'Israel' over Gaza genocide</h2>
<p>Hundreds of actors, directors, and film workers have pledged not to
collaborate with Israeli cultural institutions they say are complicit in
\u201cgenocide and<span> </span><a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/Arts&Culture/hollywood-slams-academy-silence-on-assaulted-palestinian-fil" target="_blank" rel="noopener">apartheid against the Palestinian people</a>,\u201d<span> </span><em>The Guardian</em><span> </span>reported last week.</p>
<p>\u201cAs film-makers, actors, film industry workers, and institutions, we
recognise the power of cinema to shape perceptions,\u201d the statement
reads. \u201cIn this urgent moment of crisis, where many of our governments
are enabling the carnage in Gaza, we must do everything we can to
address complicity in that unrelenting horror.\u201d</p>
<p>The initiative has drawn more than 1,200 signatories, including
directors Yorgos Lanthimos, Ava DuVernay, Asif Kapadia, Boots Riley, and
Joshua Oppenheimer. Prominent actors such as Olivia Colman, Mark
Ruffalo, Tilda Swinton, Javier Bardem, Ayo Edebiri, Riz Ahmed, Josh
O\u2019Connor, Cynthia Nixon, Julie Christie, Ilana Glazer, Rebecca Hall,
Aimee Lou Wood, and Debra Winger also backed the call.</p>
<p>The pledge cites inspiration from the cultural boycott that helped end apartheid in South Africa.</p>
<h2>What the pledge entails</h2>
<p><a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/Arts&Culture/350--hollywood-actors-condemn-gaza-genocide-ahead-of-cannes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Signatories commit to avoiding</a><span> </span>screenings,
appearances, or cooperation with institutions, including festivals,
cinemas, broadcasters, and production companies, that they deem
complicit. Examples of complicity include \u201cwhitewashing or justifying<span> </span><a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/gaza-famine-kills-393--including-140-children--as-genocide-i" target="_blank" rel="noopener">genocide and apartheid</a>, and/or partnering with the government committing them.\u201d</p><p>
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<p>\u201cWe answer the call of Palestinian film-makers, who have urged the
international film industry to refuse silence, racism, and
dehumanisation, as well as to \u2018do everything humanly possible\u2019 to end
complicity in their oppression,\u201d the statement continues.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">The campaign is spearheaded by Film
Workers for Palestine. Among those who joined is screenwriter David
Farr, who linked his stance to his own family history. \u201cAs the
descendant of Holocaust survivors, I am distressed and enraged by the
actions of the Israeli state,\u201d he said. \u201cIn this context, I cannot
support my work being published or performed in Israel. The cultural
boycott was significant in South Africa. It will be significant this
time and in my view should be supported by all artists of conscience.\u201d</p>
<h2 style="text-align:justify">Targets of boycott</h2>
<p style="text-align:justify">An FAQ accompanying the pledge
identifies "Israel\u2019s" leading festivals, including the Jerusalem Film
Festival, Haifa International Film Festival, Docaviv, and TLVFest, as
examples of<span> </span><a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/Arts&Culture/netflix-under-fire-over-removal-of-palestinian-movies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">institutions tied to the occupation entity</a>.
It states that most Israeli film production and distribution companies
\u201chave never endorsed the full, internationally recognised rights of the
Palestinian people.\u201d</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">While the statement does not explicitly
reference the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, it is
among the most significant<span> </span><a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/art-culture/cannes-filmmakers-push-france-to-own-up-to-colonial-past" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cultural boycott initiatives</a><span> </span>launched
since "Israel\u2019s" current war on Gaza began. It also draws on precedents
such as Filmmakers United Against Apartheid, founded in 1987 by
Jonathan Demme, Martin Scorsese, and others who refused to screen their
work in apartheid-era South Africa.</p>
<h2 style="text-align:justify">Part of wider cultural pushback</h2>
<p style="text-align:justify">The campaign comes amid a surge of
industry activism against the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza. Earlier
this summer, Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Ralph Fiennes, and Guillermo
del Toro were among hundreds who signed an open letter criticising the
film industry\u2019s silence.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">Many of those figures also urged
SAG-AFTRA last year to protect members from blacklisting over their
views on Palestine. The Actors\u2019 Equity Association has since advised
members to avoid working with certain Israeli cultural institutions.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">Palestinian voices have also pressed the case. In 2023, more than 65<span> </span><a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/Arts&Culture/three-palestinian-films-achieve-historic-oscar-shortlisting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Palestinian filmmakers</a><span> </span>accused
Hollywood of \u201cdehumanizing\u201d Palestinians on screen, urging
international peers to shun companies that \u201cwhitewash and justify
Israel\u2019s crimes against us.\u201d</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">That same spirit carried into this year\u2019s Venice Film Festival, where<span> </span><a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/Arts&Culture/hollywood-stars-back-gaza-film--the-voice-of-hind-rajab--at" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Voice of Hind Rajab</a>, a film about a five-year-old girl killed by Israeli occupation forces in Gaza, earned a<span> </span><a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/Arts&Culture/gaza-film-at-venice-faces-hate-campaign-after-record-standin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">23-minute standing ovation</a>.
Produced by Brad Pitt, Jonathan Glazer, Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara,
and Alfonso Cuaron, the film became one of the festival\u2019s most
talked-about works.</p>
<p><strong>Read more:<span> </span><a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/Arts&Culture/palestinian-director-at-cannes--gaza-filmmakers-are--the-sto" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Palestinian director at Cannes: Gaza filmmakers are 'the story'</a></strong></p>
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