Leaks: Hollywood celebrities debate over Gaza war

The leaked Sony e-mails continue to capture headlines for the third week in a row with fresh reports indicating that celebrities got reluctantly embroiled in heated current affairs debate on the recent Gaza war.

This particular reply-all chain e-mail features celebrities Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Ryan Seacrest and Def Jam founder Russell Simmons, amongst other semi-famous entertainers, and revolves around the question: “Is the Gaza War Really Over?”

The e-mail chain began in August with a note about the Gaza war from producer Ron Rotholz, who, according to Gawker, “has the habit of forwarding urgent articles about anti-Semitism and Israel to a circle of colleagues and friends… More than a dozen such forwards… can be located in the inbox of Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton, who seems to mostly ignore them.”

Enraged about the declining support for Israel, Ryan Kavanaugh, the CEO Relativity Media and executive producer of the Social Network, replied saying: “Before the summer 50 percent of college students supported Israel, today less the 25 percent do. There are hate crimes against heed [sic] happening in almost every major metropolitan city, now including the U.S.”

“We have let this happen. And it’s our job to keep another Holocaust from happening. Many of you may think that can’t happen, that is extreme. My Grandmother told me over and over again remember no one believed it could happen and everyone thought the government would not allow it to. It took 5 years before the U.S. stepped in, and 12 million dead,” he continued.

Kavanaugh grabbed headlines in August when he wrote an editorial letter to The Hollywood Reporter denouncing a letter signed by actors Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz that condemned the Israeli offensive on Gaza, which left more than 2,000 Gazans dead.

Not enthusiastic about the topic, Portman, who is an Israeli-American dual citizen, replied: “You should not be copying me publicly so that 20 people I don’t know have my personal info. I will have to change my e-mail address now.”

“Sorry,” he replied. “You are right Jews being slaughtered for their beliefs and Cannes members calling for the boycott of anything Israel[i] or Jewish is much less important than your email address being shared with 20 of our peers who are trying to make a difference.”

Sony Pictures Entertainment has witnessed one of the largest digital breaches ever against an American company.