George Clooney praised fellow movie star Mark Ruffalo as “a good man” and said he should have the “ability to speak freely,” instead of facing accusations of antisemitism for criticizing Paramount’s proposed $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros Discovery and its likely impact on people’s jobs in Hollywood.

Ruffalo has faced a torrent of antisemitism claims after he denounced the proposed merger on Instagram last last month and pointed out that it’s led by David Ellison, CEO of Paramount Skydance, and his father, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison. The Marvel star, one of the most outspoken opponents of the deal, alleged that the Ellison family is complicit in the “genocide” of Palestinians and is intent on “crushing workers and consolidating the wealth of the world for their own power and concentrated dominance.”

For his part, Clooney came to Ruffalo’s defense while speaking Wednesday at the Venice Film Festival, ahead of receiving the event’s Golden Lion for lifetime achievement, The Guardian reported. While Clooney wasn’t specifically asked to address the antisemitism accusations, he said it was “ridiculous” that Ruffalo had come under attack for expressing a viewpoint.

“I support Mark Ruffalo’s ability to speak freely,” Clooney said, according to The Guardian. “We’re not going to ban speech. I believe in free speech even when I completely disagree with it. That’s important, right? In fact, it’s part of how a democracy works.”

“There are going to be people tonight in the room that are going to disagree with most everything I say or stand for,” Clooney continued. “Fair enough. That’s how it’s supposed to be. We’re supposed to argue these things out and come to a conclusion based on the information that we take in. … I will always support Mark Ruffalo’s ability to speak freely. I like him. He’s a good man.”

Clooney also expressed his own concerns about the proposed merger leading to further consolidation in Hollywood. While acknowledging that the deal is complicated, he also said it doesn’t necessarily make financial sense. A dozen states, including California, also are suing to block the deal.

“I don’t know how this goes through,” Clooney said. “There are so many issues involved.”

“I worry when a big company swallows up another company,” Clooney continued. “I always worry whenever big companies are consolidating because it means a lot of people are going to lose their jobs.”

Clooney is the latest prominent figure in Hollywood and in the larger creative community — along with Jane Fonda, “Hacks” star Hannah Einbinder and scores of Jewish artists — to defend Ruffalo, after a Paramount spokesperson told a Hollywood industry publication that the actor was relying on “antisemitic tropes” to criticize the deal, as the New York Daily News reported.

In his Aug. 21 social media post, Ruffalo linked the Ellisons to Israel’s war in Gaza by highlighting Oracle’s decades-long business ties to the Israeli military. An Oracle spokesperson acknowledged to The Guardian that “supporting Israel is in our DNA — even if it costs us clients.”

Ruffalo posted a video of Oracle’s executive vice chair discussing “the really profoundly scary technology” that Oracle shared with Israel after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. Ruffalo said this technology “will most likely be merged into one of the largest media conglomerates in the world” and “one day be used on you.” He also accused Oracle of helping to build “an apartheid system of oppression” in Gaza.

In response to the Paramount backlash, Ruffalo has continued to defend his criticism of the deal and Oracle’s ties to the Israeli military, The Guardian reported. Earlier this week, more than 170 Jewish artists, academics and public figures also signed an open letter defending the actor, decrying “the weaponization” of antisemitism claims and warning against attempts to silence criticism of Israel or the proposed merger.

“We are Jewish artists, writers, creative professionals, faith leaders and thinkers who have, in response to the outrageous smear campaign against our respected colleague Mark Ruffalo, a simple message to share with the world: Enough!” wrote playwright and actor Wallace Shawn, filmmaker Joel Coen, playwright and screenwriter Tony Kushner and scores of others. “Enough with the false and dangerous weaponization of charges of antisemitism against those who are brave enough to point out the obvious: that the assault on the Palestinian people and the assault on our liberties at home are deeply interconnected, and there is nothing antisemitic about recognizing that fact.”

The letter also amplified Ruffalo’s contention that a merger could allow Oracle and the Ellison family to use the same technologies to employ AI, stifle creativity and eliminate thousands of jobs, the Daily News said.

Far from being the “mere combination of two huge multinational companies,” the deal is “part of a larger project of tech-driven domination … a project Larry Ellison and his partners have never been shy about trumpeting — and one they themselves have explicitly linked to their support for the ongoing depredations being visited on the people of Palestine and their silencing of critics of those horrors,” the letter continued. “Pointing out the crucial connections between what is happening in Gaza and what is happening in Hollywood is the exact opposite of antisemitism. It is, for us, the very essence of Jewish ethical duty.”

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