The Emmy Awards were supposed to be about television’s biggest honors, but Sunday night the spotlight turned into a megaphone for anti-Israel activism. Actress Hannah Einbinder, accepting her award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy for her role in Hacks, turned her speech into a political outburst, shouting “F** ICE”* and “Free Palestine” from the stage.
It didn’t stop there. Her Hacks co-star Megan Stalter walked the red carpet carrying a “Cease Fire” sign — a carefully staged moment designed to blend celebrity culture with political protest.
“Go Birds, F*** ICE and Free Palestine” – #Hacks star Hannah Einbinder after her #Emmys win pic.twitter.com/OIIZD31rLf
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) September 15, 2025
But perhaps the evening’s most striking statement came from Oscar winner Javier Bardem, who appeared wearing a keffiyeh and pledged to boycott any company that “supports Israel.” Asked by Variety what he would do if a business partner had ties to Israel, Bardem didn’t hesitate: “I won’t work. I cannot with somebody that justifies or supports the genocide. I can’t. It’s as simple as that.”
This rhetoric wasn’t improvised. Bardem is one of more than a thousand Hollywood and international film figures who recently signed on to a pledge organized by a group called Film Workers for Palestine. Their stated mission is to rate Israel’s film industry for supposed “complicity” in what they call “genocide in Gaza.” The pledge promises to boycott Israeli projects and blacklist any company or collaborator deemed too close to Israel’s government.
Megan Stalter walks the #Emmys carpet with a “ceasefire” bag pic.twitter.com/H24A7T1UR2
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) September 14, 2025
The roster of signatories reads like a who’s who of Hollywood prestige: directors Yorgos Lanthimos, Ava DuVernay, Adam McKay, Boots Riley, Mike Leigh, and Emma Seligman; actors Emma Stone, Olivia Colman, Mark Ruffalo, Riz Ahmed, Tilda Swinton, Josh O’Connor, and many more. Einbinder herself is among the names, lending context to her Emmy-night remarks.
In short, Sunday’s Emmys became less about craft and more about cause — a stage for slogans, boycotts, and cultural signaling dressed in evening gowns and tuxedos.
Javier Bardem says “I will not work” with any film or TV company “who justifies or supports the genocide” in Gaza: “It’s as simple as that. We should not be able to that, in this industry or any industry.” #Emmys pic.twitter.com/q1rMBi8H3m
— Variety (@Variety) September 14, 2025
The question isn’t whether Hollywood has the right to speak out. They do. The question is what it means when one of America’s most visible industries, watched by millions worldwide, spends its biggest night not on celebrating artistic achievement but on advancing a political narrative that dismisses Israel as a pariah state and equates its fight against terrorism with “genocide.”
