Cannes Jury Member Criticizes Hollywood Over Treatment of Actors Opposing Gaza War

A member of the Cannes Film Festival jury said Tuesday that Hollywood should be ashamed of the way it has treated actors who have opposed Israel's war in Gaza. Paul Laverty, who wrote two films that won the festival's top prize, spoke at the event in France. He highlighted actors Susan Sarandon, Javier Bardem and Mark Ruffalo, stating they had been blacklisted for their views.

"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," Laverty said.

He noted that major studios were conspicuously absent from the event. "Art and politics are not concepts that are in conflict with each other.

As long as they are artistically expressed, they are valuable," the director said. With Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, signing a multi-year sponsorship deal with Cannes, Laverty warned about the concentration of power by large technology companies.

He said people were beginning to realize they should not let tech billionaires dictate how others live their lives, with artificial intelligence also a topic at the festival.

Hollywood actress Demi Moore, who is also on the jury, said she was skeptical of artificial intelligence's place in the industry though not opposed to it. "There is nothing to fear because one can never replace what true art comes from, because it comes from the soul," Moore told reporters.