Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest Oscar-winning speech under fire by over 1000 Jewish professionals: Everything we know so far

By Joseph Brogan

Modified Mar 19, 2024 22:39 GMT

The 96th annual Academy Awards took place on Sunday, March 10, 2024, and saw director Jonathan Glazer’s film The Zone of Interest win the Oscar for Best International Film. During the acceptance speech, Glazer passionately spoke about the ongoing conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Palestine.

While a trend-worthy act in and of itself, Jonathan Glazer’s speech was made into an even larger news story given the subject matter which The Zone of Interest film deals with. Loosely based on Martin Amis’ 2014 novel of the same name, the story focuses on Auschwitz commandant Rudholf Höss and his wife Hedwing, who live with their family in a home in the titular area next to the concentration camp.

Likewise, Jonathan Glazer’s speech was initially met with applause at the ceremony, especially from various stars in attendance who have vocally called for a ceasefire of Israeli and Gazan attacks. However, in the days that have followed, over 1,000 Jewish professionals in the Hollywood industry have denounced Glazer’s words and speech in an open letter published by Variety.

Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest speech earns director the ire of fellow Jewish Hollywood stars

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The most notable names from the letter denouncing Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest acceptance speech include Julianna Margulies, Debra Messing, Tovah Feldshuh, Jennifor Jason Leigh, Brett Gelman, Eli Roth, Rod Lurio, Amy Sherman-Palladino, Joel Fields, Joe Weisberg, and many more.

The open letter claims that Glazer attempted to “hijack” the signees’ Jewishness for “the purpose of drawing a moral equivalence between a Nazi regime that sought to exterminate a race of people and an Israeli nation that seeks to avert its own extermination.” The letter also reaffirmed that “Israel is… targeting Hamas” rather than civilians, adding that the war will end “the moment Hamas releases the hostages and surrenders.”

The letter also calls Glazer’s speech “modern blood libel” which “fuels a growing anti-Jewish hatred around the world, in the United States, and in Hollywood.” The letter also claims this growing sentiment “only underscores the need for the Jewish State of Israel” as a place of refuge for Jewish people. Glazer has yet to respond to the letter at the time of this article’s writing.

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While many have begun to denounce Jonathan Glazer’s words, several others have shown support for it whether directly or indirectly. Some stars who have already vocally called for a ceasefire and applauded Glazer at the ceremony include Mark Ruffalo, Ramy Youssef, Billie Eilish, Finneas O’Connel, and Ava DuVernay. All of the aforementioned stars wore red pins in support of the organization Artists for Ceasefire.

These red pins were also worn at last month's GRAMMYs by Boygenius members Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker. Additional celebrities who have called for a ceasefire include Gigi and Bella Hadid, Melissa Barrera, Susan Sarandon, Kehlani, The Weeknd, Annie Lenox, Hunter Schafer, Hozier, Angelina Jolie, and most recently Renée Rapp. Rapp also gave an impassioned speech at the 34th Annual GLAAD Media Awards earlier this week.