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In Article

Entertainment Leaders Host Antisemitism Summit

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More than 200 entertainment insiders attend day-long event to learn, strategize, and implement steps to effectively combat antisemitism.

Entertainment leaders recently gathered for the first-ever “Countering Antisemitism: An Entertainment Industry Summit.” Launched by Jewish advocacy and entertainment experts, the Summit was jointly held by Creative Community for Peace (CCFP), an entertainment-industry nonprofit, Creative Artists Agency (CAA), leading entertainment and sports agency, and American Jewish Committee (AJC), the global advocacy organization for the Jewish people.

Hundreds of entertainment professionals joined for the full day of programming. The Summit featured Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff; with Van Jones, political analyst; Eli Roth, actor/director; Scott Budnick, producer; and Jennifer Jason Leigh, actress.

The Summit comes at a particularly raw moment. Just seven months removed from the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust, antisemitism around the globe is surging. The Summit’s launch and the number of attendees represent the entertainment industry’s growing consensus for increased awareness, education, and action on antisemitism. Throughout the event, executives, agents, producers, talent, and other entertainment professionals took part in roundtable discussions and strategy sessions on the state of antisemitism, allyship, and ways the entertainment industry can effect positive change.

Opening remarks from Deborah Marcus, CAA Foundation Executive, David Renzer, CCFP Chairman and co-founder, and Ted Deutch, AJC CEO kicked off the event.

Marcus said, “We need more than ever to take care of each other, to work together, to provide comfort and community, to celebrate and to mourn and to inspire a different narrative to counter antisemitism.”

Renzer said: “Creative Community for Peace is proud to convene the leaders of the entertainment industry with our partners at CAA and AJC in this crucial time – uniting our industry to combat hate, build allyship, support Israel, and collaborate to effect positive change.”

Deutch said: “History has shown that when antisemitism flourishes, it is never just the Jewish community that is at risk. It is a sign that there is something wrong in society, that our society and ultimately democracy is at risk. That’s why we do this work.”

Programming consistently highlighted the connection between the Oct. 7 terror attack in Israel and the rising antisemitism around the globe. John Ondrasik, also known as Five for Fighting, an ally of the Jewish community, performed his song “OK.” Aligning with the Summit’s goal to spur action, Ondrasik has referred to his song as a moral statement, and “a call to action.”

Concluding the event was the screening of “Supernova,” a documentary co-directed by Duki Dror and Yossi Bloch about the Nova Music Festival where 364 civilians were murdered in southern Israel. Prior to the screening, a survivor of the Nova attack spoke to attendees. In closing, CCFP Executive Director Ari Ingel said, “Today’s Summit marks a pivotal step in our collective effort to combat antisemitism. Together, as entertainment industry leaders, we can ensure that our storytelling and public platforms serve the cause of peace and understanding, rather than vitriol and hate.”

CCFP, CAA, and AJC emphasized their commitment to continuing dialogue to ensure the entertainment industry takes actionable steps to combat antisemitism in all its forms. The partnering organizations hope that the Summit will serve as catalyst for the industry to launch additional initiatives and collective action to advocate for the Jewish people.

CCFPeace
In Article

Boy George, Sharon Osbourne, Gene Simmons & More Sign Letter Rejecting Attempt to Bar Israel From 2024 Eurovision Song Contest

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Mayim Bialik, Helen Mirren, Scooter Braun, Selma Blair and more than 380 others also lent their names to open letter.
By: Gil Kaufman
A wide-ranging group of more than 400 musicians, actors, agents and managers and studio executives signed an open letter to the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest rejecting attempts by some participating countries to bar Israel from participating in this year’s event. Among those lending their names to the letter from the non-profit entertainment industry organization Creative Community for Peace were: Helen Mirren, Liev Schreiber, KISS’ Gene Simmons, Scooter Braun, Boy George, Sharon Osbourne, Emmy Rossum, Mayim Bialik, Debra Messing, Diane Warren and Selma Blair, among many others.
The letter supports the European Broadcasting Union’s commitment to including Israel in this year’s contest amid calls last month from Swedish and Finnish artists demanding Israel’s exclusion from the contest over their belief that including the country “undermines” the spirit of the competition. The letters cited Israel’s ongoing response to the deadly Oct. 7 surprise assault on the nation from Hamas militants in which more than 1,200 Israelis — mostly civilians — were murdered, sexually assaulted and attacked and more than 250 were taken hostage.
“We have been shocked and disappointed to see some members of the entertainment community calling for Israel to be banished from the Contest for responding to the greatest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust,” the letter reads. “Under the cover of thousands of rockets fired indiscriminately into civilian populations, Hamas murdered and kidnapped innocent men, women, and children.”
Artist manager Braun added, “Music is a place for unity not division. It is a language that should always bring us together. Artists should never be discriminated against for who they are, who they love, or where they’re born. These boycott efforts do nothing but distract from the uplifting and unifying power of music – something we need now more than ever.”
KISS’ Simmons, who was born in Israel to a Holocaust survivor mother, wrote, “Music unites people from all backgrounds. It’s the one language that everyone can understand. It’s a beautiful thing and a great way to bring people together. Those advocating to exclude an Israeli singer from Eurovision don’t move the needle towards peace, but only further divide the world.”
Last month’s letter from a group of more than 1,000 Swedish artists — this year’s Eurovision will be held in the the Swedish city of Malmö from May 7-11 — requested that Israel be barred from participating over it’s “brutal” response to the Hamas attack, citing the “humanitarian disaster” in Gaza.
“We who sign this are 1,000 artists who believe in music as a unifying force. The Eurovision song contest began as a peace project with the ambition to unite countries and citizens through music,” read the Swedish letter, whose signers included Robyn, First Aid Kit and Fever Ray. “Allowing Israel’s participation undermines not only the spirit of the competition but the entire public service mission. It also sends the signal that governments can commit war crimes without consequences. Therefore, we appeal to the EBU: Exclude Israel from the Eurovision song contest 2024.”
To date, the 130-day war has reportedly led to the deaths of more than 28,000 Palestinians, the destruction of much of the Gaza Strip’s infrastructure and the displacement of more than one million Gazans. The Swedish letter joined earlier, similar requests to exclude Israel from more than 1,400 artists in Finland and Iceland.
The open letter from Creative Community for Peace — the first public call of its kind from the entertainment industry voicing unequivocal support of Israel’s inclusion in the contest — highlights Eurovision’s ability to unify people from diverse backgrounds and music’s power to effect positive change in the world.
Other signatories to the open letter include: Julianna Marguiles, Ginnifer Goodwin, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr., Skylar Astin, Atlantic Records Group CEO Julie Greenwald, Universal Music Publishing Group CEO Jody Gerson, Warner Records CEO Aaron Bay-Schuck, Patricia Heaton, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Disturbed’s David Draiman, Tom Arnold, Columbia Pictures chairman Tom Rothman and MRC co-founder/co-CEO Modi Wiczyk.
The letter notes that Israel has a long and storied Eurovision history — including hosting in 1979, 1999 and 2019 and winning in 1978, 1979, 1998 and 2018 — while offering up a diverse group of contestants representing the Palestinian, Ethiopian and LGBTQIA+ communities. “Furthermore, we believe that unifying events such as singing competitions are crucial to help bridge our cultural divides and unite people of all backgrounds through their shared love of music,” it reads.
“The annual Eurovision Song Contest embodies this unifying spirit. Every year, millions of people across Europe and around the world join in a massive display of cultural exchange and celebration of music. Those who are calling for Israel’s exclusion are subverting the spirit of the Contest and turning it from a celebration of unity into a tool of politics.” Click here to see the full letter.
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