This year’s Academy Award Ceremony started a few minutes later and the reason for that were the protesters who stood in the streets surrounding the Dolby Theatre calling for a cease-fire in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
But it wasn’t only the protesters who advocated against the fire and the war. In fact, several attendees, among which singer Billie Eilish and her brother, producer Finneas, actors Mark Ruffalo, Ava DuVernay, Ramy Youssef and Quannah Chasinghorse were all wearing a pin on their outfits that left a lot of people questioning its purpose.
Actor Mahershala Ali, who didn’t walk the red carpet but took the stage to introduce this year’s nominees for the Best Supporting Actor award, was also seen wearing the pin.
What confused many was the fact that all these celebrities who had the same pin on them didn’t work on same projects so it was obvious it didn’t have to do anything with the films they were either nominated or worked on.
The red pin, which was a circular one, featured a small black heart with the outline of a hand around it.
It was later revealed that the celebrities wore these pins to support the call for a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza and connoted their solidarity with Artists4Ceasefire, a group of nearly 400 entertainment industry workers who signed an open letter urging President Biden to call for a ceasefire in the ongoing conflict.
The letter states, in part:
We ask that, as President of the United States, you and the US Congress call for an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Gaza and Israel before another life is lost. More than 30,000 people have been killed over the last 5 months, and over 69,000 injured* – numbers that any person of conscience knows are catastrophic. We believe all life is sacred, no matter faith or ethnicity and we condemn the killing of Palestinian and Israeli civilians.
We urge your administration, Congress, and all world leaders, to honor all of the lives in the Holy Land and call for and facilitate a ceasefire without delay – an end to the bombing of Gaza, and the safe release of hostages. Half of Gaza’s two million residents are children, and more than two thirds are refugees and their descendants being forced to flee their homes. Humanitarian aid must be allowed to reach them.
As per the Palestinian health authorities, since the start of the conflict, or better said since Israel launched its war on Gaza on October 7, over 30,000 people have been killed and 69,000 have been injured. Sadly, the greatest number of those who lost their lives are children.
Earlier this year, at the Grammy Awards, only Boygenius and Annie Lennox were seen wearing the same pins, with Lennox notably pleading for a ceasefire on stage.
The stars of Anatomy of a Fall, actors Milo Machado-Graner and Swann Arlaud, could be seen wearing pins of the Palestinian flag on the red carpet.
Ramy Youssef, who co-starred with Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo in Poor Things, spoke of the lack of momentum in the call for a ceasefire and subsequent end of the war against Gaza.
“There’s no other route,” Youssef said in an interview. “It’s taking so long… That’s what we’re all encouraging everyone to be vocal about.”
Other celebrities who signed on the Artists4Ceasefire letter are Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Cate Blanchett, Bradley Cooper, Lupita Nyong’o, Drake, and America Ferrera.
“The pin symbolizes collective support for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the release of all of the hostages and for the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza,” Artists4Ceasefire wrote in a press release. “Beyond our pain and mourning for all of the people there and their loved ones around the world we are motivated by an unbending will to stand for our common humanity. We stand for freedom, justice, dignity and peace for all people—and a deep desire to stop more bloodshed.”