Jane Fonda defends Mark Ruffalo amid antisemitism accusations

Jane Fonda has come to the defence of Mark Ruffalo after he was accused of being antisemitic.

The Klute actress has released a statement voicing her support for the Avengers actor after he was accused of being antisemitic over a recent social media post in which he denounced the Ellison family and Paramount's proposed merger with Warner Bros.

"Mark Ruffalo has a First Amendment right to speak out about politics, powerful corporations and this dangerous merger - full stop," she said in a quote posted on the Committee for the First Amendment's Instagram. "Calling his criticism antisemitic is a smear to delegitimize criticism of the merger and to distract from the question Paramount would rather not answer: Should one company be allowed to accumulate this much power over our movies, television and news?"

Fonda is the founder of the revived free-speech advocacy group, which relaunched in October last year. Ruffalo is a member of the committee.

The Oscar-nominated actor has been a vocal opponent of Paramount Skydance's proposed $111 billion (£81.4 billion) acquisition of Warner Bros. since the proposed deal was announced in February. Paramount Skydance is run by David Ellison, the son of billionaire Larry Ellison.

After Ruffalo shared a post on Friday about the deal and Larry Ellison's tech company Oracle, a spokesperson for Paramount accused him of invoking "antisemitic tropes".

He rejected the allegations on X over the weekend, writing, "The accusation that I am antisemitic is appalling and fundamentally dishonest. Criticising the actions of the Israeli prime minister, a military technology contract, or the executives who supply it, is not the same as criticising Jewish people. This critical and necessary dialogue is then dishonestly framed as being anti-Israel."

The Spider-Man: Brand New Day star added that he has "deep love and respect" for Jewish people.

In addition to Fonda, Hacks star Hannah Einbinder and actors John Cusack and Paul Walter Hauser have publicly stood in solidarity with Ruffalo amid the controversy.