DayoPal—At this year’s Emmy Awards, several high-profile stars used their platform to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and denounce Israel’s ongoing genocide in the region.
From bold fashion statements on the red carpet to powerful acceptance speeches and backstage commentary, the calls for justice and humanitarian relief rang loud across the night.
Among the most outspoken was Hacks star Hannah Einbinder, who took home the award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy. Wearing the now-iconic red Artists4Ceasefire pin, Einbinder ended her acceptance speech with a pointed political message: “Go birds, fuck ICE and free Palestine,” moments before music played her offstage.
Backstage, Einbinder elaborated on her stance, telling reporters, “I have friends in Gaza who are working as frontline workers, as doctors, right now in the north of Gaza, to provide care for pregnant women, and [working] for schoolchildren to create schools in the refugee camps.”
“It’s an issue that’s really close to my heart for many reasons,” she continued. “I feel like it is my obligation as a Jewish person to distinguish Jews from the state of Israel because our religion and our culture is such an important and longstanding … institution that is really separate to the ethno-nationalist state.”
Einbinder was joined by numerous other artists who used their presence at the awards to draw attention to the ongoing war and humanitarian crisis. Spanish actor Javier Bardem, nominated for his role in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, arrived wearing a keffiyeh, a symbol of Palestinian resistance, and did not mince words.
“I cannot work with someone who justifies or supports the genocide,” Bardem said on the red carpet. “Me not getting jobs is absolutely irrelevant compared to what is going on there.”
Bardem, alongside Einbinder and more than a thousand other industry professionals, recently signed the Film Workers for Palestine pledge, a commitment to boycott Israeli film institutions they deem complicit in the military campaign in Gaza.
“Boycotting is an effective tool to create pressure on the powers that be to meet the moment,” Einbinder said. “The Film Workers for Palestine boycott does not boycott individuals; it only boycotts institutions that are directly complicit in the genocide … I think it’s an important measure, so I was happy to be a part of it.”
Other celebrities showing solidarity included White Lotus stars Aimee Lou Wood and Natasha Rothwell, Presumed Innocent’s Ruth Negga, and Chris Perfetti from Abbott Elementary, all of whom wore the Artists4Ceasefire pin. Hacks actor Megan Stalter carried a purse with “Ceasefire!” scrawled across it in marker.
The Artists4Ceasefire campaign, whose emblem has become a mainstay at major Hollywood events since 2023, urges the U.S. government to push for an “immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Gaza and Israel before another life is lost.”
In a statement, the organization says it seeks to “lend our voices and our platforms to amplify the global call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the return of all hostages, and the immediate delivery of humanitarian aid to the civilians in Gaza.”
“We stand for our common humanity and a future rooted in freedom, justice, dignity and peace for all people,” the group adds.
The strong show of solidarity at the Emmys follows growing pressure within the entertainment industry to confront the war in Gaza more directly, with many celebrities now refusing to work with institutions that, they argue, are complicit in Israel’s military operations.
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