Paramount issues statement of disagreement after actors and filmmakers sign a pledge to boycott Israeli entertainment industry

Paramount has released its statement regarding the pledge that Hollywood filmmakers and actors signed this week. The pledge was published on September 8, 2025, and it calls for a boycott of Israeli film institutions and companies that are "implicated in genocide and apartheid" against Palestinians.

The organization Film Workers for Palestine has released the pledge. So far, over 4,000 filmmakers and actors, including Guy Pearce, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Olivia Colman, Fisher Stevens, Abbi Jacobson, Eric Andre, Mark Ruffalo, Elliot Page, Payal Kapadia, Emma D'Arcy, Nicola Coughlan, Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, and Joaquin Phoenix, among others, have signed it.

Paramount is the first major studio to speak up against the pledge. The studio claimed the signees were "silencing" artists based on their nationality. The statement noted that the film industry should encourage artists instead, as films "connect and inspire" people.

"We do not agree with recent efforts to boycott Israeli filmmakers. Silencing individual creative artists based on their nationality does not promote better understanding or advance the cause of peace. The global entertainment industry should be encouraging artists to tell their stories and share their ideas with audiences throughout the world," Paramount's statement says.

Paramount has spoken out against Film Makers for Palestine for boycotting Israel in the industry in protest of a Palestinian genocide.

They stated that they feel it’s wrong to “silence individual creative artists based on their nationality.”

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— Pop Base (@PopBase) September 12, 2025

Paramount Global and Warner Bros Discovery Inc. would reportedly merge in the future

The Wall Street Journal reported on September 11, 2025, that multiple sources claimed that the two multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerates would allegedly merge.

However, the news outlet reported that an offer has not been submitted as of now, and the merger deal could also fall apart. Along with multiple streaming services, Paramount Global owns MTV, Nickelodeon, BET, Comedy Central, VH1, CMT, CBS News, and Showtime.

On the other hand, Warner Bros Discovery Inc. owns HBO, CNN, Warner Bros. Pictures, the Cartoon Network, and the Discovery Channel, among others.

Raymond Sfeir, the director of the Anderson Center for Economic Research at Chapman University, told Business Standard on September 12, 2025, that the potential merger would make the industry more "concentrated" and that, eventually, prices for streaming platforms could increase.

"I don't know if the government will allow this. It's already a very concentrated industry to start with, and now you'll have even more concentration. There will be less competition for streaming. When there is less competition, prices will increase over time," Sfeir stated.

After the Wall Street Journal's report was published, Warner Bros. Discovery's shares rose to nearly 35%, while Paramount Global's shares rose approximately 16%.

Meanwhile, the actors and filmmakers who pledged not to work with Israeli film institutions, including festivals, cinemas, broadcasters, and production companies that supported the genocide in Gaza, have not addressed Paramount's statement.

The pledge stated that governments are allegedly "enabling" the genocide in Gaza, and as a response, they believed their decision to step back from Israeli film institutions would "answer the call" of Palestinian filmmakers, who demanded that the film industry speak up about Gaza.

"As filmmakers, actors, film industry workers, and institutions, we recognize the power of cinema to shape perceptions. In this urgent moment of crisis, where many of our governments are enabling the carnage in Gaza, we must do everything we can to address complicity in that unrelenting horror," the pledge stated.

Stay tuned for more updates on Paramount's statement and its potential merger with Warner Bros Discovery.