by Alfredo Galindo
SAG-AFTRA members such as Mark Ruffalo, Ramy Youssef, Susan Sarandon, Melissa Barrera and Cynthia Nixon are among the hundreds of union members calling on their organization’s leadership to keep people from being blacklisted for their views on Palestine.
In a statement provided with an open letter from organization SAG-AFTRA and Sister Guild Members for Ceasefire, more than 700 union members signed an open letter that also called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and condemned violence journalists. The letter states that, following Hamas´Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel, SAG-AFTRA released an initial statement on Oct. 13, 2023, in which the union stated it “deplores and condemns the horrific acts of aggression against the Israeli people” since then, “many SAG-AFTRA and sister guild members have watched in horror as the Israeli government wages a war of collective punishment on the civilian population of Gaza – killing over 40,000 Palestinians, injuring over 90,000 more, forcibly displacing 2 million people, and openly targeting members of the press and their families”.
Actor and SAG-AFTRA national MENA committee chair Amin El Gamal has been “ignored for months” by leadership of the guild and received calls “in hushed tones” from union staff, who promised meetings but never followed up, he claimed in a statement shared with the same publication. “I saw this blatant double standard”, he added. “How can you mourn the loss of some kinds of peoples and not others – especially when you have such a diverse membership? You don’t get to cosplay equity and inclusion and then leave your most vulnerable members on read”.
Barrera and Others Blacklisted?
Celebrities and some guild members who have publicly advocated for ceasefire claim they have faced blacklisting, job loss and harassment for their views, and one of the most notable cases was the one we referred to early this year when Mexican actress Melissa Barrera was fired while already in pre-production of the Scream 7 she was returning to alongside actress Jenna Ortega over pro-Palestine social media posts. From the Hollywood Reporter, “Another West Coast actor, who has remained anonymous for fear of retaliation, said that they and their representatives were the targets of a coordinated harassment campaign.”
“We received a flood of hateful emails – some from well-known producers. I was scared for my career and my family´s safety”, this person said. “It´s our union´s duty to protect us from this new McCarthyism, especially when we´re speaking up for human rights and our labor colleagues. Instead, it´s been deafening silence”. Riz Ahmed, Common, Busy Phillips, Richa Moorjani, Griffin Dunne, Kendrick Sampson, Indya Moore, Sara Ramírez, Amrit Kaur, Bruce Cohen, James Schamus, Lorenza Izzo and Saul Williams also signed the open letter.
From Gina Carano to Jenna Ortega speaking out, the Latino Slant has well documented this wave of suppression of speech from “progressive” Hollywood and fully condemns it.