Susan Sarandon has spoken about the fallout from her remarks at a pro-Palestine rally last November, stating that she has been blacklisted by mainstream Hollywood studios.
The actor and life-long activist, 78, appeared at a protest in New York, demonstrating against Israel’s ongoing invasion of Palestine.
At the protest, Sarandon said that a lot of people were “afraid of being Jewish at this time, and are getting a taste of what it feels like to be a Muslim in this country, so often subjected to violence”.
She subsequently apologised for the comment, saying that the phrasing was a “terrible mistake”, and that she had intended to express concern over antisemitic attacks.
“This phrasing was a terrible mistake, as it implies that until recently Jews have been strangers to persecution, when the opposite is true,” she said at the time. “As we all know, from centuries of oppression and genocide in Europe to the Tree of Life shooting in Pittsburgh, PA, Jews have long been familiar with discrimination and religious violence which continues to this day.
“I deeply regret diminishing this reality and hurting people with this comment. It was my intent to show solidarity to the struggle against bigotry of all kinds, and I am sorry I failed to do so.”
In a new interview with The Times, Sarandon said that the controversy led to the departure of her agent, and she is no longer able to star in mainstream studio films.
“I was dropped by my agency, my projects were pulled,” she said. “I’ve been used as an example of what not to do if you want to continue to work.”
“There are so many people out of work right now [since] November of last year… who have lost their jobs as custodians, as writers, as painters, as people working in the cafeteria, substitute teachers who have been fired because they tweeted something, or liked a tweet, or asked for a ceasefire,” Sarandon continued.
Asked if she would be offered any large-scale film roles again, Sarandon replied: “I don’t know. [Not] anything in Hollywood.”
In the time since the controversy, Sarandon has continued to advocate for an end to the violence in Palestine.
More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel began its campaign last October, following an attack on Israel by Hamas that claimed the lives of 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.
This week, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) stated that nearly 70 per cent of all confirmed Palestinian deaths in Gaza were women and children.
The organisation accused Israel of failing “to comply with the fundamental principles of humanitarian law”.
Over the last year, a drastic rise in antisemitism has also been recorded within the UK and US.
