NPR corrects signatory error in Hollywood boycott story
NPR has amended its Sept. 25 report on Hollywood’s dueling open letters over an Israel film boycott, clarifying that Selena Gomez and Pedro Pascal did not sign the pledge to shun Israeli film institutions. Getting the names right matters — especially when lists of “who’s in, who’s out” become the story. But the larger takeaway isn’t celebrity bookkeeping. It’s that cultural boycotts aimed at Israel are the wrong tool for the moment.
The original piece detailed two competing letters: one, signed by thousands, pledging to avoid Israeli film bodies; the other, backed by more than a thousand industry figures and organized by Creative Community for Peace and The Brigade, rejecting the boycott as discriminatory and counterproductive. That second camp’s core point deserves emphasis: silencing artists based on nationality isn’t justice; it’s censorship. Paramount put it plainly: shutting down creative exchange doesn’t advance peace — dialogue does.
There’s also a basic asymmetry here. A blanket boycott erases dissenting Israeli voices, including filmmakers who have long criticized their own government, and it lets Hamas off the hook by collapsing a complex conflict into a crude blacklist. If you’re serious about peace, you don’t target film schools and festivals; you demand the release of hostages, condemn terror, and protect space for debate. Boycotting cultural institutions is not just ineffective — it’s ridiculous.
NPR’s correction — removing two high-profile names from the boycott list — underlines how fast misinformation can calcify in a highly charged media environment. When coverage turns on rosters and moral litmus tests, a single erroneous inclusion can warp public perception, pressure artists unfairly, and fuel exactly the sort of online pile-ons that make genuine conversation impossible.
Meanwhile, Hollywood isn’t short of better options. Back Israeli and Palestinian creators who are working toward coexistence; platform films that scrutinize power without demonizing people; support humanitarian relief without laundering talking points for armed groups. Engagement — not embargoes — is what changes minds and builds constituencies for compromise.
NPR did the right thing by correcting the record on signatories. The industry should go a step further and correct its strategy: stop treating culture as a battleground and start using it as a bridge.