Academy Award winning actress Susan Sarandon has been dropped by her talent agency for making controversial anti-Semitic remarks.
Sarandon, 77, made a speech at a pro-Palestinian rally in New York City on Friday that got her booted from longtime talent agency UTA.
According to Variety, the actress told protesters that they should have discussions with Jewish Americans who are terrified by the shocking rise of antisemitism in the United States.
“There are a lot of people that are afraid, that are afraid of being Jewish at this time,” she said at the rally.
On the stage at #March4Palestine in #WashingtonDC with the Palestinian Feminist Collective. #SusanSarandon, the Oscar-winning and outspoken actress, also showed her support.@SusanSarandon #CeasefireNOW
🇵🇸 #Gaza #Palestine #Hamas #Israel 📷 pic.twitter.com/90a6UEPHh0— Noelia Belén Izarza 🇻🇪🇺🇸 (@myteks) November 4, 2023
“And [they] are getting a taste of what it feels like to be a Muslim in this country, so often subjected to violence.”
Earlier this month, the “Thelma & Louise” star was at the March4Palestine event in Washington D.C.
Sarandon shared a post by the Palestinian Feminist Collective, which featured photo of her appearing on stage holding a sign with other activists.
“You don’t have to be Palestinian to care about what’s happening in Gaza,” she captioned the retweet. “I stand with Palestine. No one is free until everyone is free.”
In the wake of her comments about Jewish people at the Nov. 17 rally in New York, Muslim-American journalist Asra Nomani blasted the “Witches of Eastwick” star.
“Let me tell you what it means to be Muslim in America,” she began in a lengthy post.
“Let me give you ‘a taste’ of what it ‘feels like” to be a Muslim in America: My dad didn’t have to become a second-class indentured servant to one of the many tyrants of Muslim countries that use immigrants from India, like my family, as essential slaves.”
She explained how her father got an assistant professor job at West Virginia University in 1975, after getting a PhD at Rutgers.
“He got rejected first for tenure but being Muslim in America meant he got a right like everybody got — his right to appeal and guess what? He won and he became a full professor,” Nomani detailed. “That’s what it means to be Muslim in America.”
She detailed how her mother was able to open up a business, which is forbidden in many Muslim countries.
Hi there @SusanSarandon, this is my mom, my dad and me on the rail trail in Morgantown, West by God Virginia. Let me tell you what it means to be Muslim in America.
First, your backstory: At an anti-Israel protest in NYC, you just said, "There are a lot of people that are… pic.twitter.com/zAyUjpTxkY
— Asra Nomani (@AsraNomani) November 20, 2023
Nomani also noted that she fled Pakistan while pregnant and unwed – which could have gotten her imprisoned or killed – because sex outside of marriage in Muslim countries is a punishable crime.
“Please don’t minimize the experience of Jewish Americans by sanitizing the hell that it is for Muslims living in Muslim countries and vilifying America for the life — and freedoms — she offers Muslims like my family,” the Wall Street Journal correspondent told Sarandon.
“Go, live like a Muslim woman in a Muslim country. You will come back to America and kiss the land beneath your feet.”
Sarandon wasn’t the only one to get dropped by Hollywood for anti-Semitic remarks this week.
Melissa Barrera, who took over the reins of the “Scream” franchise from longtime star Neve Campbell, was fired from the series upcoming seventh installment on Tuesday.
Spyglass, the studio behind the ‘SCREAM’ films, has released a statement on firing Melissa Barrera for speaking about the genocide happening in Palestine:
“We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide,… pic.twitter.com/3P4WMI25X3
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) November 22, 2023
According to Time, the 33-year-old actress has been using her Instagram account to share information from the Israel-Hamas war that accuses Israeli forces of “genocide and ethnic cleansing.”
Barrera accused the media of failing to share information from the war from the perspective of Palestinians. “Why they do that, I will let you deduce for yourself,” she posted.
Though the actress did clarify that she was not a proponent for antisemitism, despite her support for Palestine.
“It is important for me to clarify that when I say Free Palestine,” said in an Oct. 27 post. “I do not in any way mean: Kill all Jews.”
Spyglass Media Group, who is producing “Scream VII” released a statement about Barrera’s dismissal on Tuesday.
“Spyglass’ stance is unequivocally clear: We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form,” the company said.
“Including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech.”