Shari Redstone Emotionally Speaks About Israel, Antisemitism and Racism at Gathering of Jewish and Black Hollywood Power Players
Paramount Global chair and National Amusements president Shari Redstone is one of the most powerful people in Hollywood. She is also an observant Jew and a supporter of Israel who has been reeling over the days since Oct. 7, when Hamas terrorists attacked the Jewish state, she told The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday in a corner booth at Wolfgang Puck’s Spago. The Beverly Hills restaurant was closed to the public for the evening in order to host “Black & Jewish Conversations,” an event that Redstone and Gelila Assefa, Puck’s Ethiopia-born wife, began organizing well before the Hamas attack in order to foster increased conversation and partnership between members of Hollywood’s Black and Jewish communities.
“Look, I’m not doing well, to be honest,” Redstone acknowledged. “I think there are no words to describe what took place, and all I do every day is try to do something that’s going to make a difference and help people.” She said of Israel, “It’s really important to me personally, it’s really important to the Jewish people and it’s really important to the world. They’re one of the few nations that really represent a democratic society, and I think when you look at what’s going on in the world, we have to protect countries like Ukraine and Israel. It’s not just about these individual countries and people. It is about the world in which we are living. That’s what’s really scary to me.”
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As for what inspired “Black & Jewish Conversations,” Redstone explained, “I get involved in things when I see that there’s something that needs to be addressed. I taught my grandchildren civics when they were 5 and 7, so they could debate the Bill of Rights. Why? Because I think our democracy is being challenged. And if you look at the last several years, there’s been a tremendous rise in antisemitisim, in racism and in hate. And if we don’t address it now, it’s not going to get any better. So what I saw was an opportunity.” She added, “The way we’re going to solve this problem is through education and through bringing people with different backgrounds together to have a conversation about what they can do to make this world a better place.”
Surrounded by photographs that will be part of the Skirball Cultural Center’s exhibition “This Light of Ours: Activist Photographers of the Civil Rights Movement” (running Oct. 21 through Feb. 25, 2024), including a striking image of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other Black civil rights leaders marching alongside Jewish leaders, the event’s 250 attendees included media executive Byron Allen, Sex and the City creator Darren Star, former CNN anchor Don Lemon, Rabbi Abraham Cooper, rapper LL Cool J, philanthropist Cookie Johnson (Magic’s wife), The Black List creator Franklin Leonard, professor Ephraim Isaac (author of From Abraham to Obama: A History of Jews, Africans and African Americans) and prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump. They mingled over passed hors d’oeuvres before enjoying a multi-course dinner into which Puck incorporated favorites of the Jewish and Black communities, such as matzo ball soup and sweet potato pie.
Addressing the full room before the meal, Redstone proclaimed, “We all mourn the loss of innocent people on both sides of the border. Sadly, this war is not unique to the Middle East. It is a war based on hatred and it is being fought around the world, day after day, as we experience a terrifying rise in antisemitism, racism and other expressions of hate against embattled communities. We need only look at history, including the history of the Jewish and Black communities, to understand the devastating impact that these forces can have.”
She added, “The Black and Jewish alliance had at one time been a very formidable partnership. We stood together, literally and figuratively, using our voices and our actions to fight antisemitism and to fight for a new era of civil liberties. The bridges between us were strong, and all of us here tonight are here because we know the power of that alliance and the power that can be unleashed if we rebuild those bridges.”
Fighting back tears, she closed her remarks, “My father [the late media mogul Sumner Redstone] often said that optimism is the only state of mind compatible with sanity. While we may live in an insane world, I do have hope, and I have optimism, because I know together we can do this.”
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