Celebrities under fire for Israel support at Golden Globes

The 81st annual Golden Globes took place on Sunday night, with some celebrities using the occasion to show their support for the freeing of hostages being held by Hamas—and they’re being criticized for it.

On October 7, Hamas led a surprise attack on Israel, which it said was retribution for worsening conditions for Palestinians under Israeli occupation. Israel declared war on Hamas and launched hundreds of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, followed by a ground invasion. At least 1,200 people were killed in Israel, The Associated Press has reported, and more than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to health authorities in Gaza, the AP said.

Succession actor J. Smith-Cameron and John Ortiz of American Fiction were photographed sporting yellow ribbons at the event to show support for the roughly 130 hostages who are still being held in captivity by Hamas. Jesse Sisgold, the president of Skydance Media, and Jon Weinbach, writer of Air also wore ribbons, per the Jewish Telegraph Agency.

Newsweek reached out to Smith-Cameron and Ortiz’s publicists, as well as Sisgold and Weinbach through Skydance Media, for comment via email Monday.

Bring Them Home, an Israeli hostage advocacy organization, worked behind the scenes to provide the ribbons, which was arranged by Ashlee Margolis, founder of Beverly Hills-based branding agency The A List.

The decision to wear yellow ribbons carries historical weight, as they became an emblem of hope during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis when 52 Americans were held in captivity in Tehran for 444 days. People in the U.S. wore the ribbon on their lapels and it was seen on front porches and trees across the country in hopes the hostages would be brought home safely.

People have taken to X, formerly Twitter, to share how unhappy they are about the celebrities’ gesture at the Golden Globes on Sunday.

“The gall of these celebrities to don yellow flags in support of Israel at Golden Globes while people have lost jobs and lives for simply wearing a watermelon,” one person wrote.

The watermelon, which is grown in Gaza and the West Bank, has become an emblem of Palestinian solidarity and resistance.

“F*** this s***. Boycotting any actor I see with a dumb a** yellow ribbon,” said another commenter.

People also slammed the use of the ribbon because they said it has ties to bringing awareness to childhood cancer and shouldn’t be co-opted. For the sake of clarity, it is a gold ribbon that acts as a symbol for all forms of cancer affecting children and adolescents, not yellow.

“Motherf****** at the #GoldenGlobes co-opting the yellow ribbon from childhood cancer when Israel has bombed all the damn hospitals in Gaza & utterly f***** the healthcare infrastructure for everyone, including children with cancer,” someone posted to X.

Other social media users pointed out that the yellow ribbon became a prevalent symbol in South Korea following the Sewol Ferry sinking on April 16, 2014.

“I thought the yellow ribbon was a symbol of remembrance for the people who passed away in that Korea ship incident, most who were children. Zionists are just going to stop away all previous meaning?” another asked.

Someone else added: “The yellow ribbon has been associated with raising awareness about child/young people mortality issues, diseases, and tragedies. zionists are genuinely scum on earth coopting this symbol after killing so many kids and teenagers in Palestine.”

One social media user pointed that Smith-Cameron had previously shown her support for Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck’s daughter, Violet Affleck, after she was photographed wearing a pro-Palestinan crewneck with a watermelon print.

“It’s incredible how you tweeted this and then presumably wore that f****** yellow ribbon tonight as some kind of damage control for the Zionists you offended. You are spineless,” they wrote, retweeting one of Smith-Cameron’s previous tweets.

Different X users spoke more generally when they criticized celebrities who attended the Golden Globes for not speaking out about the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

“Interesting, but not the least bit surprising, no one chose to torpedo their career by speaking out against the genocide in Gaza at the Globes tonite [sic]. The tight chokehold the pro-Israel camp has on Hollywood is just astonishing,” one person posted to the social media platform.

“Every celebrity at the Golden Globes who has either openly supported Israel or has not said a word about the genocide in Gaza is a disgusting human being btw [by the way],” said another.

In contrast, some tweets praised Smith-Cameron and Ortiz.

“Thank you to #Succession star J. Smith-Cameron for wearing a yellow ribbon at the #GoldenGlobes – demanding the return of the hostages in Hamas captivity in Gaza,” one person wrote.

“Great to see so many [attendees] of the #GoldenGlobes supporting the Israeli hostages that Hamas continues to torture in captivity,” said another.

The Crown‘s Khalid Abdalla wore a dove pin in support of a ceasefire in Gaza at the Golden Globes on Sunday, a gesture that was met with praise from some.

Abdalla shared a photo on X of him pointing to the dove on his lapel and captioned the post: “The dove is made in Bethlehem. Today marks three months of unfathomable death and destruction. We need this to end. The first step must be a permanent ceasefire.”

“idk if there were others, but after hearing about dumb a** celebs wearing the yellow ribbon for Israel, I think he’s the only one with a backbone during the golden globes,” one person wrote.

“What a beautiful gesture and your bravery is immense and honourable in a world full of racism!” said another.

A third added: “Thank you for your solidarity and your bravery.”