Skydance Boss Ynon Kreiz Delivers Blunt Message on Antisemitism and Hollywood’s Responsibility at Wiesenthal Gala
Hollywood’s biggest executives spend a good part of the fall circuit at charity dinners, but few carry the weight of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s annual award night. The center, founded in 1977 and named for the late Nazi hunter, describes its mission as confronting antisemitism, defending Israel’s legitimacy and promoting human rights. This year, Skydance co-CEO Ynon Kreiz stepped into that spotlight.
The dinner has become a fixture of the entertainment calendar. The 2025 Los Angeles dinner was held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel and honored Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav. Last year’s gala raised $4.3 million, and Jeffrey Katzenberg has chaired the center’s dinners for more than two decades.
On Wednesday night, Kreiz was presented with the center’s 2026 Humanitarian Award by his co-CEO David Ellison, Gal Gadot and Katzenberg. His acceptance speech tackled the rise of antisemitism around the globe head-on, and he thanked Ellison for his stand for Israel and the Jewish people.
Kreiz said Israel now confronts a very different world beyond its borders, one where old hatred has found new platforms to spread. He then turned the focus inward, arguing that running a major company carries ethical obligations. He put the spotlight on himself, Ellison and Skydance and the platforms they control as tools to combat the spread of hate.
The most notable passage may have been a more nuanced one. As Deadline reported, Kreiz said that “Defending Israel does not mean Israel is beyond criticism.” He added that the fight against antisemitism is part of a broader fight against hatred in every form.
That framing drew attention because speeches at events like this tend to stay on message about a single cause. Kreiz paired his support for Israel with a call for accountability and a wider stand against injustice, which is how the speech earned its place in the trade press.
The ballroom also heard from abroad. A video message from Israeli President Isaac Herzog played before Kreiz took the stage. The dinner also gave its Medal of Valor to Elica Le Bon for her activism against antisemitism.
Gadot, who helped present the award, has her own recent honor tied to the cause. She was named the 2026 Genesis Prize laureate, an annual $1 million award recognizing Jewish contributions to humanity. The foundation cited her advocacy for Israel, her defense of the hostages and her empathy for innocent people harmed by the war.
Kreiz delivered the remarks just 6 weeks after being named to the top Skydance job, and the timing says a lot about how the company wants to be seen. Skydance has also grown enormously, with a nearly $111 billion absorption of Warner Bros. Pictures. That means the studio Zaslav ran last year now sits under the same corporate umbrella as Kreiz.
The company has been in the headlines for other reasons this week. On Monday, Skydance announced that James Gunn and Peter Safran are stepping down as DC Studios co-chiefs, and Ellison and Kreiz issued a joint statement praising their work. The Wiesenthal speech shows the other side of the leadership’s public profile, one built on advocacy as much as on franchises.
Whether the evening’s message becomes a lasting part of Skydance’s identity will depend on how the company acts on it. For now, Kreiz has made his position on hate, Israel and corporate responsibility publicly clear in one of Hollywood’s most closely watched rooms.
