Paramount Fires Back at ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Star Mark Ruffalo over Merger Criticism, Calls Remarks ‘Antisemitic'

The battle over Paramount’s $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery has been simmering for months, drawing in lawmakers, state attorneys general and a growing chorus of Hollywood voices. Mark Ruffalo has been one of the deal’s most consistent opponents, having testified against the merger before a Senate hearing, signed an open letter alongside hundreds of actors and repeatedly voiced his objections on social media.

That opposition escalated significantly this week when the actor turned his attention toward the family bankrolling the deal. Ruffalo’s latest post zeroed in on Larry Ellison, the Oracle founder worth roughly $200 billion, whose fortune serves as a key financial backstop for his son David Ellison’s effort to merge the two historic studios.

On Friday, Ruffalo shared a resurfaced clip on Instagram of Oracle executive vice chair Safra Catz discussing the company’s work with the Israeli military. In the post, Ruffalo accused the Ellisons of profiting from systems he says contributed to what he described as “genocide” in Gaza, pointing to Catz’s remarks about Oracle’s “profoundly scary technologies” being made available amid the conflict that followed the October 7 Hamas attacks.

Ruffalo also argued the merger itself would be “catastrophic” for the film industry, citing claims of roughly 4,500 direct filmmaking jobs and another 10,000 ancillary jobs at risk, and called Ellison and Catz “really profoundly scary people.”

Paramount did not let the comments go unanswered. A spokesperson for the David Ellison-run company said Paramount is “troubled when antisemitic tropes are invoked in purported service of a business dispute,” adding that words like “genocide” and “apartheid” applied to “a corporate transaction” are “a bridge too far” that “cheapen the very real suffering those words are meant to describe.”

The statement, first reported by TheWrap, went further, framing the moment as one that called for de-escalation rather than more conflict. “This brings us to a moment to lower the temperature, not raise it,” the company said, adding that it would “rather build than further engage in such rhetoric,” and that the episode “simply exposes the true motivation of some who have advocated opposition to this transaction.”

Paramount also emphasized its stated commitment to inclusivity, saying its dedication to great content is “matched by our commitment to acceptance – to every story, every storyteller, and no blacklists, no exceptions, for anyone.”

This isn’t the first time Paramount leadership has raised concerns about the tone of the opposition campaign. Paramount’s chief legal officer, Makan Delrahim, alleged back in June that some merger opponents were motivated by “their own antisemitic views,” a concern that other people inside the company reportedly echoed as well. In its response to Ruffalo specifically, Paramount added that it hopes the deal “will be judged based on the legal merits, not underlying bias,” asking for “the same good faith we’re extending: less rhetoric, more understanding.”

The dispute over language isn’t new territory for Ruffalo, either. The actor has previously used similarly charged terms to describe Israel’s actions, calling the country a form of “apartheid” in 2020 and accusing it of “genocide” in 2021 before later apologizing, at the time acknowledging that the description “isn’t accurate” and was “being used to justify antisemitism here and abroad.”

The merger itself remains far from settled. Twelve state attorneys general are currently suing to block the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery deal, even as other local officials, including Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, have publicly voiced support for it. With regulators, lawmakers and now some of Hollywood’s biggest names weighing in, the fight over the merger’s future, and the rhetoric surrounding it, shows no signs of cooling down.