Tinsel Town babble
Gawker’s article about the emails concerning Israel and Palestine is followed by a pro-Israel, anti-Hamas article written by Ryan Kavanaugh in August 2014.
At the ADL dinner honouring Ryan Kavanaugh (centre) in October 2011. L-R: Ben Silverman, ADL Pacific Southwest Regional Director Amanda Susskind, Ryan Kavanaugh, actresses Michelle Monaghan and Meghan Markle, and Alan Jay Weil, ADL’s Pacific Southwest Regional Board Chair.
The Natalie Portman-Ryan Seacrest Gaza Strip Reply-All Chain from Hell
By Sam Biddle, Gawker
December 23, 2014
I freaking promise you that whatever debate over current events you get trapped in this holiday season will not be as bad as a reply-all chain argument about the Gaza Strip, featuring Russell Simmons, sent to Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, and Ryan Seacrest. And I can promise you that because I have seen one.
Imagine being forced to listen to other people discuss the following question: “Is the Gaza War Really Over?”
Now imagine those people include Def Jam founder Russell Simmons, baby-resembling GOP talking point-scribbler Frank Luntz, producer Ryan Kavanaugh, former NBC and Universal co-chair Ben Silverman, actresses Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman, at least three rabbis, and, of course Ryan Seacrest.
Thanks to emails included in the recent Sony mega-dump*, you don’t have to use your imagination:
On Aug 29, 2014, at 1:29 PM, “Ryan Kavanaugh” wrote:
The problem is that Moore ‘ [sic] law is kicking in. Before the summer 50 percent of college students supported israel, today less the 25 percent do. There are hate crimes against heed [sic] happening in almost every major metropolitan city, now including the US.
We have let this happen. And it’s our job to keep another Hollacast [sic] from happening. Many of you may think that can’t happen, that is extreme. My Grandmother told me over and over again remember no one believed it could happen and everyone thought the government would not allow it to. It took 5 years before the us stepped in, and 12 million dead.
If you pull newspapers from pre Hollacast [sic] it seems eerily close to our world today.
Kavanaugh, the CEO of Relativity Media and executive producer of The Social Network, was responding here to an email sent by Canadian Bacon producer Ron Rotholz, who, like Kavanaugh, has the habit of forwarding urgent articles about anti-Semitism and Israel to a circle of colleagues and friends. (More than a dozen such forwards that can be located in the inbox of Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton, who seems to mostly ignore them.)
A few weeks before sending the email, Kavanaugh, an outspoken supporter of Israel, had become the first major studio head to denounce a letter, signed by actors Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz, that condemned the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip. He later wrote an editorial for The Hollywood Reporter calling for the film industry to stand with Israel against Palestine.
Kavanaugh and Rotholz’s forwarding habits were irritating enough to Portman that she’d previously asked Kavanaugh to remove her from the list: “you should not be copying me publicly so that 20 people i don’t know have my personal info,” she admonished the producer. “i will have to change my email address now.”
“Sorry,” he replied. “You are right jews being slaughtered for their beliefs and cannes members calling for the boycott of anything Israel or Jewish is much much less important then your email address being shared with 20 of our peers who are trying to make a difference. my deepest apologies.” (Grimace emoji.)
Despite Portman’s entreaties to Kavanaugh, Rotholz seems not to have gotten the message. On the 28, he sent out an editorial from Bush U.N. ambassador John Bolton’s think tank called “Is the Gaza War Really Over?” to a list including Portman (an Israeli-American dual citizen who’d recently shot a film in the country), Johansson (who’s faced criticism for endorsing the Israeli company Sodastream), Seacrest (????), and, yes, Russell Simmons, who answered the Kavanaugh email quoted above with the most Russell Simmons reply you can fathom:
From: Russell Simmons
Date:08/29/2014 1:56 PM (GMT-08:00)
To: Ryan Kavanaugh
Cc: Glenn Feig , Mark Canton , “Silverman, Ben” , Ron Rotholz , [Joel Mowbray], Amy Pascal , Jon Feltheimer , Jim Gianopulos , Ron Meyer , [David Seigal], Ryan Seacrest , Russell Simmons , Bart Rosenblatt , Jason Binn , Meir Teper , Gianni Nunnari , Jack Rapke , Roger Birnbaum , Jonathan Brandstein , Patrick Whitesell , Cassian Elwes , Beau Flynn , Geyer Kosinski , John Burnham , Solomon Courtney , Rabbi Marc Schneier , Ken Sunshine , Natalie Portman , Scarlett Johansson , [George Perez], Rabbi Steven Leder , Rabbi Marvin Hier , Elliot Brandt , Frank Luntz , David Shane , [Kobi Marom]
Subject: Re: Is the Gaza War Really Over?
Simple messaging from non Jews specifically from Muslims promoting peace and Israel’s right to exist. Should be spread. (Possibly using statements from Hamas leadership in this branding exercise) could be a unifying force. U have ken sunshine on the chain. We have resources and the desire to win rather then loose the hearts of young Muslims and Jews. Our love for innocent suffering Palestinians must be a strong part of our messaging.
With great love all things are possible
(Simmons’ suggestion is close to the hilarious one that former Time editor and current Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Rick Stengel posed to Lynton in a separate email a week or two later: “My question is, who is the Muslim Bob Geldof? What if there were a Muslim Anti-ISIL We Are the World video/concert? It could have Muslim artists from all over the world plus hip hop stars.”)
I’ll spare you the rest of the aimless debate over peace in the Middle East and Israeli self-defense—which took place entirely between Kavanaugh, Simmons, Rotholz and not a single other member of the 39-strong reply-all group. All you need to see to know how it felt is Portman’s final appeal to Lynton and his wife Jamie:
The Natalie Portman-Ryan Seacrest Gaza Strip Reply-All Chain from Hell
Lynton replies, simply: “this is nuts.”
Ryan Kavanaugh on Gaza: Hollywood Must Stand Up to “Anti-Creative, Violent” Hamas
Ryan Kavanaugh, the CEO of entertainment studio Relativity Media and an outspoken supporter of Israel, submitted to The Hollywood Reporter this open letter to the Hollywood community.
Hollywood Reporter
August 13, 2014
If you’re a woman, gay, Christian, Jewish or just non-Muslim and reading this, be thankful you don’t live in Gaza. Not only would you not be allowed to read this, you probably would be publicly executed. If you’ve ever voiced an opinion that isn’t shared by Hamas publicly or merely attended a meeting where people are discussing anything Hamas does not support, be thankful you don’t live in Gaza, as you probably would be publicly executed. In fact, a half-dozen unarmed peaceful protestors were beheaded this month, on camera. Anyone who wishes to see can do so via the Internet, with a minimal amount of work.
Be thankful you live in and around Hollywood.
Hollywood is a special place; a place filled with creative geniuses — actors, screenwriters, directors, sound engineers, computer graphics specialists, lighting experts and so on. Working together, great art happens.
But in the end, all artists depend on diverse audiences who can enjoy, be inspired by and support their work. Without audiences, artists would be doing something else, and their creative and technical skills would fall on absent eyes.
What a shame that would be. Which is why we are left to wonder: Why, in a community that celebrates the human spirit and the right to share opinions via art, do some celebrities express opinions that Hamas would support in its war against Israel. Israel is perhaps the closest free-thinking place to Hollywood.
Israel is a wonderful place to be an artist — a place where imagination flourishes. Israeli culture is refreshingly avant garde — making films, music, performance art and visual art that continues to push the envelope, inspire and empower.
And not just in the arts. Israel is a place of inventors and innovators. Much of our hyperconnected, digital world is made possible by the work of groundbreaking Israeli technologists. These are people who reject the status quo — in a truly good and powerful manner. In short, Israel is one of the most creative nations on the planet, in every dimension of life — invention, research, technology and yes, the arts.
I ask any of Israel’s Hollywood critics … have you been to Tel Aviv?
It is an arts mecca. You would be hard-pressed to find a city anywhere in the world that is more similar in spirit to Los Angeles. It has energetic streets, an extraordinary music and film scene, and one of the world’s most vibrant centers of gay culture. Rejected in their own communities and countries, Arab homosexuals frequently move there, because they are welcome there. When actors visit Tel Aviv, they always come back and tell us how warmly embraced they felt there.
So when we see some in Hollywood — truly gifted artists and good people — aligning themselves with views that would be supported by Hamas, which fires rockets frequently and indiscriminately at innocent Tel Aviv citizens, we have to wonder what they’re thinking.
Are they thinking?
War is a tragic and horrific reality in the region. We understand that many are moved by the images of destruction and violence and loss. All of us know that the loss of innocent human life is a tragedy when and wherever it takes place. You don’t have to be an artist to be empathetic.
Yet we humbly ask that they consider the consequences of siding openly with views supported by Hamas — not the least of which is giving prominent credibility and propaganda victories to one of the most anti-Western, anti-creative, violent forces on the planet.
We ask that these Hollywood celebrities, leading artists and globally respected icons of their craft pay closer attention to the world of Hamas — a world of fanaticism. It’s the world of the Muslim Brotherhood. A world where individual freedoms, especially the freedom to create art, is repressed severely.
Hamas has created a society in Gaza that openly celebrates the death of innocent men, women and children. While Israel uses its missiles to protect its children, Hamas uses its children to protect its missiles. The true tragedy? This could be avoided. Hamas need only stop firing rockets and let Israel exist in peace.
But Hamas continues to fire, because it is virulently committed to killing Jews and destroying Israel. Period. Genocide is the stated policy of Hamas. This is not opinion but their self-stated charter. In fact, this is a charter which all of Hamas is required to follow. A line from the charter says, “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.”
Hamas also encourages and facilitates the inhumane treatment of women as property and second-class citizens — and among Hamas’ supporters are many who force preteen girls to marry men. In Gaza and other places ruled by the same tyranny, gays are lynched and Christians, if they refuse conversion, are beheaded.
How can a Hollywood community so tolerant … tolerate this utter tyranny?
I know we as community do not stand for this type of oppression. Many of you have boycotted the Beverly Hills Hotel because it is owned by the Sultan of Brunei. Why? Because Brunei is supposedly governed by Sharia law. But Sharia law is enforced strictly by Hamas, yet we remain silent — or worse. I would propose there is only one answer: Anyone who has actually visited Gaza and seen the truths Hamas stands for, would not only be supporting Israel but violently opposing Hamas.
My grandmother, a Holocaust survivor, used to say, “Remember Ryan … remember this happened. Remember that the U.S. stood by and allowed Hitler to take over Poland and so many other countries, and slaughter 6 million Jews.” It took five years before the U.S. did anything, and one-third of the Jewish population was captured and killed. Remember the very streets in London with rallies chanting “Free Palestine” are the same streets where some British citizens rallied and chanted in favor of the Nazis. And remember our government did nothing.
President Barack Obama has said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is “sincere in his desire for peace,” even though Abbas denied the Holocaust occurred until recently, when he shifted his public position on the issue as he was being promoted as a moderate statesman to broker peace.
My friend, Congressman Ed Royce, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, recently told me, “Congress is steadfast in its support of Israel and absolutely and completely condemns Hamas. In fact, Congress recently unanimously passed a bipartisan resolution condemning Hamas for its use of human shields.”
So here is a modest proposal for our Hollywood colleagues to consider before they weigh in on the conflict in the Middle East — or anywhere, for that matter. Ask yourselves the following questions:
Where can my artistic work be seen and enjoyed without censorship or restriction?
Where would I feel comfortable working and living? Where would I feel comfortable having my daughter begin a career as an artist?
Where could I openly mock, in my art, the political or religious leadership of a country without fear of imprisonment — or worse?
If you decided Gaza or Palestine, and actually moved there and practiced any of the above, you would no longer be alive. Consider this: One-fifth of Israel’s population is Arab; they are among the freest Arabs in the world. Yet no Jews live in Gaza. Why? They would immediately be killed.
And so I ask you … in what world are we better off with Hamas?
If Israel were to put down its arms tomorrow, Israel would be decimated and all its citizens killed within 24 hours. If Hamas were to put down its arms tomorrow, there would be immediate peace.
The sad part is that every time both sides have agreed to a cease fire, Hamas immediately fires.
Notes and links
* The Sony hack was carried out by a group calling themselves Guardians of Peace. The hackers released a lot of information in the compamy’s system, including emails, onto the internet. It is being assumedin the US that the hacking was instigated by the North Morean government.
Ryan Kavanaugh is the founder and CEO of Relativity and recipient of the Anti-Defamation League’s Entertainment Industry Award.
Ryan Kavanaugh, would-be king of tinseltown, FT July, 2011
A fundraising feast for Relativity’s Ryan Kavanaugh at ADL’s annual entertainment dinner, Jew2ish Journal 2011.