Cannes Jury Member Paul Laverty Condemns Hollywood Blacklisting of Gaza War Critics

Screenwriter Paul Laverty, a member of this year’s Cannes Film Festival jury, used his platform to condemn the blacklisting of actors who have publicly opposed the war in Gaza.

During the festival’s introductory press conference, Laverty stated,

"Shame on Hollywood."

He continued,

"Can I just leave one tiny thing? The Cannes Film Festival has a wonderful poster. Yes, and isn’t it fascinating to see some of them like Susan Sarandon, Javier Bardem, Mark Ruffalo blacklisted because of their views in opposing the murder of women and children in Gaza? Shame on Hollywood people who do that. My respect and total solidarity to them. They’re the best of us, I look up to them. I just hope we don’t get bombed now, because we’ve got this poster in Cannes."

Laverty also referenced Shakespeare’s King Lear, reciting the line,

"’Tis the time’s plague when madmen lead the blind."

Born in Calcutta, Laverty is an Irish and Scottish screenwriter best known for his collaborations with director Ken Loach, including The Wind That Shakes the Barley and I, Daniel Blake, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2006 and 2016, respectively.

At the press conference, Laverty expressed his awe at being part of the Cannes jury amid global conflicts. He said,

"You see so much violence, genocide in Gaza and all these terrible things. To come to a festival — which is a celebration of diversity, imagination, tenderness — when there’s such vulgar, vicious, systematic violence? Where there’ll be contradiction and nuance and beauty and inspiration? It knocked me out."

Susan Sarandon, prominently featured on the 2026 Cannes poster, revealed in February that she had lost her Hollywood agent after publicly advocating for a ceasefire in the Middle East. Speaking in Spain earlier this year, she stated,

"I was fired by my agency, specifically for marching and speaking out about Gaza, for asking for a ceasefire."

She added,

"It became impossible for me to even be on television. I don’t know lately if it’s changed. I couldn’t do any major film or anything connected with Hollywood. I found agents ultimately in England and in Italy, and I work there. I just did a film in Italy, and I did a play at the Old Vic for a number of months. I know this Italian director that just hired me — he was told not to hire me, so that’s still recently. He didn’t listen."