Inside Paramount’s Rumored Blacklist: The Actors Reportedly Sidelined Over Support for Palestine

So, this is a thing: Paramount, the studio behind Top Gun and a bunch of other gigantic franchises, reportedly keeps a do-not-work-with list. And yes, the timing lines up with Hollywood’s messy, very public arguments over Gaza and who gets to say what. If that sounds like an old-school studio move, that’s because it kind of is.

What Variety says Paramount is doing

Per Variety, Paramount has a list of talent it will not work with. The reported criteria: people they consider 'xenophobic', 'homophobic', or 'overly antisemitic'.

This isn’t happening in a vacuum. When a group of A-listers signed an open letter calling for a boycott of Israeli film institutions, Paramount publicly pushed back, criticizing the effort as silencing individual creative artists based on their nationality. In response, Film Workers for Palestine said their aim is to pressure companies and institutions, not individual Israelis.

The tricky part: none of this is a public blacklist with names on it. It’s a studio posture being reported out, in an industry that runs on whisper networks and risk assessments. So take any specific name speculation with the appropriate grain of salt.

Who could be in the blast radius?

There is no confirmed roster. But a handful of high-profile actors have been outspoken about Gaza and Palestinian rights in ways that some people think could put them at odds with a studio taking a hard line. Again: not saying they are on any list, just laying out what they’ve said and done.

Javier Bardem

The F1 star has been blunt about Gaza. He wore a keffiyeh to the 2025 Emmy Awards, a very visible statement. He has called what is happening in Gaza 'totally unacceptable... terrible... dehumanising' and pushed back on the idea that criticizing a government equals antisemitism.

Mark Ruffalo

Ruffalo has been one of the most consistently political A-listers for years, and Gaza is no exception. In a September conversation with Mehdi Hasan, he was direct about the human cost:

'I am a humanist, okay? What’s happening there is inhumane.'

Joaquin Phoenix

Phoenix signed on as an executive producer of The Voice of Hind Rajab, a film by Kaouther Ben Hania about the final hours of six-year-old Hind Rajab, who contacted Red Crescent volunteers as Israeli troops allegedly opened fire on the car she was in. Other EPs include Brad Pitt, Rooney Mara, Jonathan Glazer, and Alfonso Cuarón.

Phoenix has also addressed Gaza publicly, arguing you don’t need to be a geopolitics expert to recognize a basic moral line:

'What’s going on is absolutely so f*cking horrible. There’s no justification for children starving to death in a conflict.'

Andrew Garfield

On the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Garfield swerved away from talking about himself and pointed listeners toward Gaza instead. His line about 'putting our energy toward something that actually matters' got traction for obvious reasons. He’s also among the 1,300+ signatories of Film Workers for Palestine’s Pledge to End Complicity.

Emma D'Arcy

The House of the Dragon star has posted about Gaza’s death toll on Instagram, including a story noting 30,000 Palestinians killed by Israel’s bombardment. They backed the March for Palestine in London on August 9, 2025, and appeared at the 'Stand with Palestinians: Messages from Gaza' event presented by the White Kite Collective, reading a testimony from Sami about his imprisonment. The night mixed testimony with music, poetry, and a dabke performance.

The pledge vs. the studio line

Film Workers for Palestine’s pledge calls on the global film industry to reject silence, racism, and dehumanization, and to do everything possible to end complicity in Palestinian oppression. Practically, that means promising not to work with Israeli film institutions — festivals, cinemas, broadcasters, production companies — that the group says are implicated in genocide and apartheid. Hundreds signed on, including these familiar names:

• Ayo Edebiri
• Brian Cox
• Elliot Page
• Emma Stone
• Guy Pearce
• Joe Alwyn
• Liam Cunningham
• Riz Ahmed
• Tilda Swinton
• Ebon Moss-Bachrach

Where this could go

If Paramount is truly running a list like this, the big question is enforcement. Are they really going to sideline A-list talent over public positions that a significant chunk of the industry shares? Studios love principles, but they love box office more. We’ll see which instinct wins.