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Mark Ruffalo, the American actor known for playing the Hulk in the Avengers movies and an outspoken critic of Israel, has fired back after studio Paramount accused him of being antisemitic.

The company issued a statement after Ruffalo accused moguls David and Larry Ellison of “powering some of the most destructive and inhuman forces in the world” while criticising Paramount’s $110 billion merger with Warner Bros Discovery. David, the son of centibillionaire and Oracle founder Larry, is the CEO of Paramount Skydance. Oracle is a software company with ties to the Israeli military.

A spokesperson for Paramount said the company was “troubled when antisemitic tropes are invoked in purported service of a business dispute. Words like ‘genocide’ and ‘apartheid,’ applied to a corporate transaction, aren’t just wrong — they’re a bridge too far, and they cheapen the very real suffering those words are meant to describe. This doesn’t deserve a response in kind — and to be clear, we don’t tolerate prejudice of any kind, against anyone.”

Paramount has a history of supporting Israel. Last year, it condemned a pledge signed by more than 4,000 actors, entertainers, and producers, including some Hollywood stars, to not work with Israeli film institutions complicit in the abuse of Palestinians by Israel.

Ruffalo responded to the accusations on Saturday night, calling it “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,” he said, calling critical and necessary dialogue “dishonestly framed as being anti-Israel”. 

“To be clear, my views come from my own political convictions and should never be interpreted as hostility toward Jewish people, for whom I have deep love and respect.  Everything I know about acting, activism, and humanism has been profoundly shaped by the Jewish friends, colleagues, and loved ones who have been integral and family throughout every point of my life,” the actor wrote in a post on X.

“This merger has real consequences for real people, and for the entire country. Scrutinising the Ellisons, including Oracle’s business built on data, surveillance technology and government contracts, and the serious threat to editorial freedom and the loss of a livelihood for thousands of families, is fair and necessary. The $111 billion deal would hand one family control over CNN, HBO and Warner Bros., backed in part by foreign money whose influence on editorial decisions has never been fully explained to the public,” he said.

He added that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have called for serious national security review, and regulators still haven’t given the public a real answer. “Until they do, the merger shouldn’t move forward. Now is the time to dive boldly into all these issues, not step back or concede.”

His statement drew support online, including from fellow actor and outspoken Israel critic John Cusack.

Ruffalo is not the first celebrity whose criticism of Israel has been branded ‘antisemitic’. The accusation has been liberally levelled against outspoken critics of Israel’s genocide in Gaza. In 2022, similar accusations were made when Harry Potter star Emma Watson spoke in support of Palestine. Gigi and Bella Hadid, whose father is Palestinian, have long drawn accusations of antisemitism for speaking up for Palestinian rights. The boycott of Israeli film institutions also drew accusations of antisemitism.