Hollywood Vet Calls Out Silence Over Iranian Director’s Sentence
Same industry screaming 'Free Palestine' goes quiet over new injustice
Free Palestine! ICE out! Trump must go!
What about filmmaker Jafar Panahi’s plight? Crickets. At least for now.
The Iranian director must serve a five-year sentence over dubious charges in his native land.
Iran’s Revolutionary Court sentenced award-winning film director Jafar Panahi to five years in prison and the seizure of all his assets, Iran’s semi-official Nournews reported on Wednesday, citing his lawyer but without mentioning the charges he faced.
Panahi’s “It Was Just an Accident” won top prize at last year’s Cannes Film Festival. He’s a big name in the international film world.
So where is Mark Ruffalo? Sean Penn? Macklemore? Anyone?
Actor/comedian Michael Rapaport is decrying his peers for their silence.
SAY SOMETHING!!!!
Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi has been sentenced to prison for speaking out against the Iranian regime and condemning its violence against protesters.
Where are all the LOUD celebrity activists?
Where’s the outrage? The solidarity?
FREE SPEECH ONLY WHEN IT’S CONVENIENT???
#FREEIRAN
Rapaport previously called out celebrity silence on the ongoing hostage crisis in Gaza.
Why the silence this time? Could it be that the U.S., under President Donald Trump, is at war with Iran? Might any comments against Iran be construed as aligning with Trump in some small (or not so small) way?
Perhaps.
It may be more galling. There’s no political upside to defending Panahi at the moment. It doesn’t help the Democrats or the midterm push for today’s progressive movement. It reveals the true nature of Iran, though, at the worst possible time for TDS sufferers.
You decide.
This isn’t the director’s first brush with Iranian law and, by extension, censorship. In 2022, Julianne Moore spoke out against his treatment. Will she do the same this time?
She’s a Best Actress favorite for “The Debut,” and she’ll have endless interview opportunities to promote the film and whatever cause is near and dear to her heart.
Will that include Panahi’s plight?