Why are the celebrities I used to love suddenly so anti, well… me?

There has always been the odd one. At the 1978 Oscars, Vanessa Redgrave famously gave a speech condemning "Zionist hoodlums”. But this, at the time, was a niche view, and led to Redgrave being blacklisted by the industry. These days, it feels like the opposite. Work in the arts, you have to be loudly, performatively, pro-Palestine.

Some of these artists have been on this patch for a while: Miranda-from-Sex-and-the-City Cynthia Nixon and Mark Ruffalo, for starters. Guy Pearce is the latest to join this fold, after he recently retweeted posts claiming that top pornography companies are owned by Jewish people, and blamed Israel for 9/11. Mike from Neighbours: just rack off.

From left to right: Cynthia Ellen Nixon, Mark Ruffalo, Guy Pearce[Missing Credit]

But it’s the home-grown, British ones who hurt the most. And in recent months, it seems that the more benign the professional persona, the more Israel-hatey they have become.

That lovely Gary Lineker, who never got a yellow card in his whole career? Retweets anti-Israel propaganda, complete with a rat emoji. Olivia Colman: no! Judi Dench, well that just hurts.

Even mild old Lord Grantham in Downton – aka actor Hugh Bonneville – weighed in recently, calling Israel’s decision to revoke the credentials of 37 perhaps dodgy NGOs working in Gaza an “abomination”. And, in hindsight, there was always something creepy about Dawn French, who last year went on an X rant, calling October 7 "a very bad thing” in a sickly baby voice.

From left to right: Olivia Colman, Hugh Bonneville, Judy Dench[Missing Credit]

My husband Jeremy Kareken – himself an actor and playwright – refuses to pay for any films starring Mark Ruffalo and Juliet Stevenson. Jeremy knows his stuff: he co-wrote Lifespan of a Fact, the 2018 hit Broadway play starring Daniel Radcliffe, and worked for 20 years on the chat show Inside the Actors Studio, where he met A-listers from Tom Cruise to Clint Eastwood.

So why have these stars all jumped on the bandwagon? “Different actor/ activists have different motivations,” says Jeremy. “Some are animated by prejudice against Jews (hi, Roger!), but fortunately I don’t think that’s many of them. And while it’s possible some performers are paid, others are terribly vulnerable to the anti-Zionism hate movement because, as an actor, you have to need to be “seen” and the publicity can help your career. Add to that the charge you get when the major news organisation asks you your opinions about world affairs, and anti-Zionism is positively addictive.”

For me, it’s the hypocrisy that grates. That old double standard of holding Israel (hence, Jews, and hence me) to a far higher standard than any other country or ethnicity. It’s been said many times before, but where are these performers on China, Sudan, North Korea, Iran?

The Iran case is particularly topical. Iranian stand-up comic Omid Djalili is – quite rightly – being feted by the mainstream press as a voice of the uprising in that country. Where were the corresponding Israeli voices in autumn 2023?

Of course, there are some pro-Israeli (hence, pro-Jewish, and pro-me) voices: Gal Gadot, Jerry Seinfeld, Pink, Jamie Lee Curtis – all of these have stood up in support. But all these actors are Jewish – or have Jewish heritage – and so it’s somehow less meaningful. There’s an irony in how Jews historically have always stood up for civil rights causes, but when the table are turned, no-one seems to stand up for us.

With hope in my heart, I started to Google. Tom Cruise? Nope, he supported his agent when she was sacked for anti-Israel commentary. Paul Mescal participated in the Cinema for Gaza auction, donating items to raise funds for Palestinian humanitarian aid. Brad Pitt is a producer on pro-Gaza film, The Voice of Hind Rajab.

There is, perhaps, a silver lining in the post. Jeremy feels there may be a backlash down the line. “Despite what Sam Goldwyn once said, there is such a thing as bad publicity,” he says. “I wouldn’t be surprised if some actors have done long-term damage to their careers and legacy as they cross the line between responsible empathy into antisemitism.”

That aside, there are signs of hope. Quentin Tarantino recently gave an interview where he declared he would "die a Zionist". And just today, I came across an X post of actress Sydney Sweeney posing with released hostages, Noa Argamani and Avinatan Or.

As a final word, we probably should remember those who have said nothing at all. There is, after all, no constitutional duty to proclaim ones political alignments. It’s a small field, but let’s keep our fingers crossed for Leonardo di Caprio, Zendaya, and Taylor Swift. As long as Taylor is (implicitly) on our team, we should be ok.