Over 50 Celebrities Call on Biden and Harris to Secure Release of Israeli Hostages
In a significant show of solidarity, more than 50 celebrities have penned an open letter to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, urging the administration to take decisive action to secure the safe return of Israeli hostages.
Among the notable signatories are comedian Chelsea Handler, actress Connie Britton, and television personality Andy Cohen. The letter implores Biden and Harris to “protect and support” Israel in the face of the ongoing conflict with Hamas.
“We are artists who want sustainable peace in the Middle East and recognize that the first essential step towards that peace is Hamas returning the 101 remaining hostages,” the letter states, a document first reported by CNN.
This plea follows a tragic incident weeks prior, where six Israeli hostages, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, were killed by Hamas. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that the hostages’ remains were discovered in a Hamas-operated tunnel beneath Rafah, noting that they were “brutally” murdered shortly before troops could reach them.
The remaining hostages have been held captive for nearly a year, following the attacks on Israel that took place on October 7, 2023.
Additionally, other prominent figures included among the signers are actors Mayim Bialik, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Rebecca Gayheart, and Patricia Heaton; reality TV stars Jill Zarin, Margaret Joseph, and "The Bachelor" alum Colton Underwood; as well as social media influencers such as Ariel Martin, widely recognized as Baby Ariel on TikTok, where she boasts over 36 million followers, and dancer Montana Tucker, who has nearly 10 million TikTok followers.
The open letter, which features both Jewish and non-Jewish performers, was organized by four Jewish advocacy organizations: StopAntisemitism, End Jew Hatred, 2024 New Voices, and StandWithUs.
Samantha Ettus, founder of 2024 New Voices, emphasized the urgency of the situation, stating, “We are approaching one year since 251 hostages were brutally stolen from their lives and 1200 were murdered. It is so important to keep the spotlight on this. Our celebrities have come together to draw attention to the 101 hostages remaining in Gaza, including five Americans. After the brutal execution of six hostages, the urgency of getting the world to talk about this is now. We need to put as much pressure as possible on Hamas to return the hostages.”
In recent developments, U.S. officials disclosed earlier this month that there are growing doubts within the White House regarding the potential for the Israel-Hamas war to conclude before Biden’s presidency ends.
According to a Human Rights Watch report released this summer, Hamas-led armed groups have been found to have committed “numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity” aimed at civilian populations, where “killing civilians and taking hostages were central aims of the planned attack, not an afterthought, a plan gone awry, or isolated acts.”
The U.S. response to the Israel-Hamas conflict has sparked division within the entertainment industry. Just two weeks ago, another group of Hollywood stars, including Ariana Grande, Ben Affleck, Mahershala Ali, Cate Blanchett, Drake, Dua Lipa, Jennifer Lopez, Richard Gere, and Mark Ruffalo, affixed their names to a separate Artists4Ceasefire letter, which urged the U.S. to cease arms sales to Israel.
“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,” the Artists4Ceasefire letter stated. “We stand for freedom, justice, dignity and peace for all people – and a deep desire to stop more bloodshed.”
For those interested, the full 2024 New Voices letter is available for review online.