Paramount's 'taboo' under David Ellison: Speaking on Gaza & Palestine might be a career risk

Paramount Under David Ellison

• 💡 David Ellison's leadership at Paramount is characterized as the arrival of an ideology, not merely a corporate transition.
• 🔑 Ellison's family empire, founded by his father Larry Ellison, is deeply rooted in political power, cybersecurity, and unwavering loyalty to Israel.
• 📌 Larry Ellison is described as a close US ally of Israel, a friend of Netanyahu, and a significant donor to the IDF, with his company Oracle intertwined with US-Israeli security objectives.

Unspoken Rules and Career Risks

• ⚠️ Inside Paramount, there are unspoken rules dictating acceptable speech, which employees quickly learn to navigate.
• 🚫 While criticism of US presidents or the Pentagon is permitted, any challenge to "Israel's apartheid occupation" is considered a career risk, ensuring such scripts are never pitched.

Industry Response to Gaza & Palestine

• 🎬 Over 4,000 Hollywood actors, directors, and film workers signed a pledge refusing to work with Israeli institutions complicit in "genocide in Gaza and apartheid."
• 🚨 Paramount publicly condemned this pledge, indicating a clear stance against such activism.
• 👻 Reports suggest Paramount adopted internal values that function as an unprinted blacklist, leading to critics of Israel being "ghosted" with stalled careers and unanswered calls.

Consequences for Challenging Narratives

• 📉 On October 29, nearly 1,000 women employees in high-profile roles were laid off, with cuts at CBS News specifically impacting those covering Gaza.
• 📰 Staff observed a pattern where reporting that challenged Israel's narrative was eliminated, despite Paramount's claims that the cuts were not political.

Hollywood's Irony

• 🎭 The industry, which champions resistance and fights injustice on screen, is ironically terrified of it off-screen.
• ❓ This situation raises concerns about how many stories will remain untold or twisted due to these internal pressures.