Social Media Jokes And Voices Concern About 'Open Letter' Denouncing Jonathan Glazer's Oscars Speech

Jonathan Glazer and his Oscar-winning Holocaust film The Zone of Interest have seen a surge of interest over the following week thanks to some discourse around his controversial acceptance speech at the 2024 Oscars.

As he accepted the award for "Best International Film" on Sunday, Glazer, who is himself Jewish, gave a statement that focused on the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. He said:

"All our choices were made to reflect and confront us in the present, not to say look what they did then, but rather look what we do now. Our film shows where dehumanization leads at its worst. It’s shaped all of our past and present. Right now, we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people. Whether the victims of October — whether the victims of October the 7th in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all the victims of this dehumanization, how do we resist?”

The statement read as anti-Israel to some in Hollywood, and an open letter circulated via Google Docs denouncing the speech. The letter refuted Glazer's statement, rebutting with, "We refute our Jewishness being hijacked for the purpose of drawing a moral equivalence between a regime that sought to exterminate a race of people, and an Israeli nation that seeks to avert its own extermination."

While this seemed fairly straightforward, the controversy began heating up when the letter saw coverage from media websites. On Monday, Variety reported that "Over 1,000 Jewish Creatives and Professionals Have Now Denounced" Glazer's speech.

However, internet sleuths discovered that this was purportedly misleading. While some known celebrities did sign the letter, including Debra Messing, Jennifer Jason-Leigh and Eli Roth to name a few, the form itself was open to anyone, and anyone who clicked on the link was able to sign it, regardless if they were a Jewish creative in Hollywood or not.

They also did not have to sign with a real name. Twitter's Community Notes pointed to at least one example of a troll signer, who signed it as "Riverto Thesea," a reference to Palestinian supporters' common chant, "From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free."

Furthermore, after the letter circulated, CNN reviewed the film and panned it, marking one of the only negative reviews of the film.

The timing of the letter, the way it has been covered by the media and CNN's review has set off alarm bells for some on social media who believe Glazer is being blacklisted for his Oscar speech.

At the very least, some on social media had jokes about the troll signer of the open letter as it continued generating discussions online this week.

Variety initially included a link to the open letter for all to sign and published a list of all the signers, including "Riverto Thesea." Both have since been edited out of the piece.