Ruffalo’s August 22 Instagram post connected the $111 billion merger to Oracle’s technology work with Israel and claimed that the Ellison family – whose son runs Paramount – were “powering some of the most destructive and inhuman forces in the world.”

The Coalition for Jewish Values, which represents over 2,500 traditional, Orthodox rabbis in American public policy, issued a statement calling the entertainers’ defence “ignorant and misguided” and accusing them of whitewashing antisemitism.

If the deal goes ahead, CNN, HBO and Warner Bros. studio assets would fall under the control of the Ellison family, prompting a coalition of 12 state attorneys general to sue on antitrust grounds.

The episode shows how accusations of antisemitism can split the Jewish community itself, and why a large rabbinic organization felt it necessary to publicly challenge prominent Hollywood figures.