AssetID: 55948104
Headline: UNCAPTIONED: Jane Fonda defends Mark Ruffalo amid antisemitism accusations
Caption: 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 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. 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. Instructions: THIS VIDEO MUST NOT BE EDITED FOR LENGTH TO COMBINE WITH OTHER CONTENT
Keywords: CPS1705041,Jane Fonda,Mark Ruffalo,Defends,Antisemitism,Accusations,Support,Actor,Actress,Committee for the First Amendment,Instagram,Statement,Paramount,Warner Bros.,Skydance,Aquisition,Merger
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