The “Spotlight” star was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor In a Drama Series for his performance in “Task.”

Mark Ruffalo attends Emmys after Paramount accuses him of antisemitism over WB merger criticism

The “Spotlight” star was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor In a Drama Series for his performance in “Task.”

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

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September 14, 2026 9:26 p.m. ET

Mark Ruffalo at the 2026 Emmys. Credit:

- Mark Ruffalo attended the Emmys on Monday night.

- The *Avengers* star was nominated for his performance in HBO’s *Task*.

- Ruffalo recently defended himself against Paramount’s accusations of antisemitism, after he criticized the studio’s pending merger with Warner Bros.

Mark Ruffalo has arrived at the Emmys 2026.

The *Spotlight* star attended the awards ceremony Monday night in Los Angeles, where he was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor In a Drama Series for his work on HBO’s *Task*. He ultimately lost to *The Pitt*’s Noah Wyle.

Other nominees in the category include *Paradise*’s Sterling K. Brown, *Slow Horses*’ Gary Oldman, and *The Diplomat*’s Rufus Sewell.

Ruffalo previously won an Emmy in 2014 for co-executive producing *The Normal Heart*, which won the award for Outstanding Television Movie. He won his second Emmy in 2020 for *I Know This Much Is True*, which earned Ruffalo the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.

Mark Ruffalo in ‘Task’.

Peter Kramer/HBO

Amid his ongoing criticism of the pending merger between Paramount and Warner Bros., the *Avengers* star recently made headlines for his condemnation of Paramount’s links to Oracle. Larry Ellison, the father of Paramount CEO David Ellison, owns Oracle and provided financial backing for his son to take over the studio.

In an Instagram Story post in August, Ruffalo took aim at Safra Catz, Oracle’s executive vice chair and a Paramount board member, who talked up Oracle’s “profoundly scary technologies” throughout Israel’s military action in Gaza at a 2024 event. “These ‘really profoundly scary technologies’ will most likely be merged into one of the largest media conglomerates in the world and one day used on you,” Ruffalo wrote. “Look how she revels in what we now have come to see as a genocide, which was built on an apartheid system of oppression powered by Oracle.”

Ruffalo called Larry Ellison a “classic Oligarch” and wondered, “Why has Trump pushed this illegal merger through?”

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In response, Paramount issued a statement accusing Ruffalo of invoking “antisemitic tropes” in the post. “Words like ‘genocide’ and ‘apartheid,’ applied to a corporate transaction, aren’t just wrong — they’re a bridge too far, and they cheapen the very real suffering those words are meant to describe,” the company said in a statement to *Variety*. “This doesn’t deserve a response in kind — and to be clear, we don’t tolerate prejudice of any kind, against anyone.”

Ruffalo fired back with a statement of his own denying the antisemitism allegation. “The accusation that I am antisemitic is appalling and fundamentally dishonest,” he said. “Criticizing the actions of the Israeli prime minister, a military technology contract, or the executives who supply it is not the same as criticizing Jewish people.”

Mark Ruffalo in Los Angeles on Jan. 9, 2026.

Michael Kovac/Getty

He continued, “To be clear, my views come from my own political convictions and should never be interpreted as hostility toward Jewish people, for whom I have deep love and respect. Everything I know about acting, activism, and humanism has been profoundly shaped by the Jewish friends, colleagues, and loved ones who have been integral and family throughout every point of my life.”

The actor also reiterated his criticism of the merger, writing that the two studios combining “has real consequences for real people, and for the entire country.”

On Sept. 1, a group of over 170 Jewish artists and academics signed a letter supporting Ruffalo, including Rosanna Arquette, Sarah Sherman, Hannah Einbinder, Joel Coen, Wallace Shawn, Debra Winger, Gina Gershon, Ilana Glazer, Miranda July, Tony Kushner, Kate Berlant, James Schamus, and Larry Charles. The letter slammed “the false and dangerous weaponization of charges of antisemitism against those who are brave enough” to speak about how “the assault on the Palestinian people and the assault on our liberties at home are deeply interconnected.”

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Other prominent actors have spoken out in support of Ruffalo, including John Cusack, George Clooney, and Zach Woods.

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Source: “EW Emmys”