CANNES, May 13 — Hollywood should be ashamed of the way it has treated stars like Susan Sarandon, Javier Bardem and Mark Ruffalo for opposing Israel’s war in Gaza, a member of...
Sexually assaulted teen trapped in Bukit Kemuning apartment freed after neighbour hears his cries for help; Shah Alam cops on hunt for suspect Member of the jury Scottish screenwriter Paul Laverty arrives on stage during the Opening Ceremony and the screening of the film"La Venus electrique" at the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 12, 2026.
— AFP pic! Plus, enjoy an additional FREE RM10 when you sign up using code VERSAMM10 with a min. cash-in of RM100 today. T&Cs apply. CANNES, May 13 — Hollywood should be ashamed of the way it has treated stars like Susan Sarandon, Javier Bardem and Mark Ruffalo for opposing Israel’s war in Gaza, a member of the Cannes Film Festival jury said yesterday, with big studios conspicuously absent this year.
Paul Laverty, who wrote two films that won Cannes’ top prize, was cheered as he lambasted the studios and praised the French festival for using an image of Sarandon in“Isn’t it fascinating to see Susan Sarandon, Javier Bardem and Mark Ruffalo blacklisted because of their views in opposing the murder of women and children in Gaza? Shame on Hollywood, people who do that,” the Scottish-born writer, who was arrested last year at a pro-Palestine protest, added.
Sarandon was dropped by her US agents and accused of antisemitism in 2023 after she told a pro-Palestinian rally in New York that people “afraid of being Jewish at this time are getting a taste of what it feels like to be a Muslim in this country, so often subjected to violence”. She said earlier this year that her outspoken stance on Gaza made it “impossible for me to even be on television”, never mind work in Hollywood.
But left-winger Laverty made an impassioned plea for filmmakers not to shy away from politics “when madmen lead the blind”, quoting Shakespeare’sLaverty did not mention US leader Donald Trump, but his presidency and the war in Gaza have hung heavy over film festivals over the last few years. South Korea director Park Chan-wook, who heads the jury awarding the Palme d’Or, the top prize at Cannes, also defended the place of politics in film.
“Art and politics are not concepts that are in conflict with each other. As long as they are artistically expressed, they are valuable,” said the maker ofWith Meta, the owners of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, signing a multi-year sponsorship deal with Cannes, Laverty also warned about “the concentration of power” by Big Tech.
“We are beginning to realise that we should not let these tech bros billionaires, mostly right-wing libertarians, dictate how we live our lives,” he added, with artificial intelligence another hot topic at the festival. Hollywood star Demi Moore, who is also on the jury, said she was also sceptical of AI’s place in the industry, though not against it.
“There is nothing to fear because one can never replace what true art comes from, because it comes from the soul,” she told reporters.
Susan Sarandon Javier Bardem Mark Ruffalo Paul Laverty Palme D' Or
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