Pro-Palestine Protests Slow Down Hollywood Streets Ahead of Oscars
Pro-Palestine protestors blocked many of the same streets used to get to the 2025 Oscars on Sunday, slowing traffic ahead of the ceremony's start.
The protest took place at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue, where cars and limousines must turn on their way to the Dolby Theatre. The Hollywood Reporter learned that authorities closed several nearby streets because of the activity, and at least one THR staffer attending Sunday's ceremony noted that traffic was barely moving.
More from The Hollywood Reporter
BBC Gaza Doc Fallout Continues as Former Chief Accuses Corp of Being "Manipulated by Terrorists"
Oscar Season's Dopest Dials
Red Carpet Rocks (You Can Wear)
One social media post from human rights organization Code Pink noted they were 'outside of the Oscars in LA protesting against Hollywood's complicity in Israel's genocide against the Palestinian people.'
Another source told THR that the Los Angeles Police Department had increased their security measures for this year's ceremony, after protests last year — also for Palestine — slowed access to the red carpet. The protests this year have not disrupted the ceremony's timing, and many of the night's biggest expected stars, including Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, have already arrived.
Last year's Oscars ceremony began six minutes late as a result of the protests, which brought traffic to a complete standstill at Sunset and Highland for more than 30 minutes. Attendees left their vehicles and began walking toward the event on the side of the road.
The Israel-Hamas war remains a prominent issue for Hollywood in 2025. Last week, Artists4Ceasefire sent a letter urging attendees to wear red hand pins in support of Gaza. The Brigade, a PR group, fired back at the request, after the release of the bodies of the youngest hostages killed by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. Artists4Ceasefire said the pins are meant to 'symbolize the urgency of the call to save lives. The orange hand conveys the beautiful community of people from all backgrounds that have come together in support of centering our shared humanity. The heart being cradled in the center of the hand is an invitation for us to lead with our hearts, always, to lead with love.'
The Brigade represents over 700 members and wrote in response that the hand 'is no symbol of peace. It is the emblem of Jewish bloodshed.'
Best of The Hollywood Reporter
20 Times the Oscars Got It Wrong
The Best Anti-Fascist Films of All Time
Dinosaurs, Zombies and More 'Wicked': The Most Anticipated Movies of 2025
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
University of Michigan denounced for using private investigators to surveil student protesters
Pro-Palestinian protest on the UM campus on February 20, 2025 | Photo by Erick Diaz Veliz Josiah Walker has one year left until he graduates from the University of Michigan. However, since last summer, his college life had undergone an abrupt change when he realized he was being followed and recorded by several people while going about his daily activities on campus and around Ann Arbor. As it turns out, he wasn't the only one. According to The Guardian, they all shared the same pattern: the pro-Palestinian movement on campus. On Friday, The Guardian published a report in which a group of students accused the University of Michigan of hiring private undercover investigators from the Detroit-based firm City Shield to conduct covert surveillance both on and off campus of student pro-Palestinian activist groups. Walker is among the five U of M students who were interviewed in the report. They declared that they were trailed, eavesdropped on, recorded, and verbally harassed by what they considered intimidation tactics from the university. They said they recognized dozens of investigators, often working in teams, who were behind their steps around campus and Ann Arbor, sometimes sitting at nearby tables at cafes and bars. 'The same people and vehicles kept popping up everywhere I went on and even off campus. Each individual would execute some combination of recording and following me,' Walker told the Advance. The Guardian investigation determined that the private investigators are employees of City Shield. According to university spending records from June 16, 2023, through September 15, 2024, the university paid at least $850,000 to City Shield's parent company, Ameri-Shield. 'The university had used a lot of its own resources to uplift my previous involvements and accomplishments. Now, I'm on the other side where the university is using those same resources to try to destroy my future and, quite frankly, seriously injure or kill me,' Walker told the Advance. These students started to record, identify, and confront the undercover investigators by themselves, resulting in tense interactions recorded on video. Katarina Keating, also one of the students interviewed by The Guardian, is a PhD candidate and a member of the Graduate Employees' Organization. She recounted to the Advance that she noticed she was being followed in early November last year. She said she started seeing the same person following her after protests or events, and even weekly in the last months. Walker said he began to feel watched last year when he noticed that many people were continuously recording and following him; therefore, he started to record them in return. He shared the videos of those encounters with the Advance, also posted in the report, of himself recognizing and confronting those The Guardian reported are undercover investigators, including an interaction in which the alleged investigator, who is white, appears to falsely accuse Walker, who is Black, of trying to steal his wallet. During another of those interactions, he says a car from where he was being recorded almost hit him, making him fear for his life since then. 'The threat has already presented itself. This is what City Shield employees or university contractors were willing to do on camera when it was very obvious that I was recording them as I was holding my phone at chest level. There's no telling what they're willing to do off-camera,' Walker said to the Advance. Another video Walker shared with the Advance shows the same man sitting inside his parked vehicle and initially pretending to be hearing impaired, including speaking in an impeded manner, before switching to a normal voice. Michigan Advance requested an interview with a university spokesperson, but instead were directed to a public email from the interim university President, Domenico Grasso, regarding the investigation. 'At the University of Michigan, simultaneously keeping our campus safe and welcoming is a top priority,' Grasso said. 'We recently learned that an employee of one of our security contractors has acted in ways that go against our values and directives. What happened was disturbing, unacceptable, and unethical, and we will not tolerate it.' Additionally, Grasso said the university was terminating all contracts with vendors to provide plainclothes security on campus. The university also provided a campus security statement issued Sunday, saying that 'recent media reports have mischaracterized the role of contract security personnel who were engaged solely to support campus safety efforts,' and denying that the university had requested the services of private investigators to monitor U of M students on or off campus. Both statements explained that as part of a 'security strategy' during 2024, the university augmented contracts with outside firms of plainclothes security personnel in order to 'provide discreet awareness of potential illegal activities without escalating tensions,' said the updated statement. Grasso recommended reporting any inappropriate behavior by contractors or employees to campus police or the Equity, Civil Rights, and Title IX Office. 'It's certainly not 'safe and welcoming' for the dozens of students and community members who have been banned from campus for participating in protests. Grasso should reverse these campus bans next,' said Keating to the Advance in response to the statements. Walker declared to the Advance that, as of the time of publication of this report, U of M has not reached him to offer support or in response to the investigation by The Guardian, and so far, he believes he is still being monitored. 'It's really unfortunate. There's no doubt that if City Shield operatives or university police see me, they're going to continue to monitor me. They'll probably just try to be more discreet about it,' said Walker. The student accusations come as part of a series of rifts in the already strained relationship between the university administration and pro-Palestinian groups, including accusations of vandalism against individuals in the groups, and alleged selective targeting by authorities. Walker was among a group of students charged in September 2024 with trespassing and/or resisting university police during the raid on the pro-Palestinian encampment at the Ann Arbor campus' Diag in May 2024. The trespassing charges were later dismissed. In April, the pro-Palestinian activist group, TAHRIR coalition, alleged that some of their members were targeted in raids by the FBI at the houses where they live, authorized by Attorney General Dana Nessel. The raids were carried out in Ypsilanti, Canton, and Ann Arbor by unmarked vehicles accompanied by the Michigan State Police and local police officers. Pro-Palestinian activists were also accused by the university police earlier this month of damaging and vandalizing hundreds of flowers at the university's famed peony gardens after they found papers signed with pro-Palestinian slogans. 'The university has 100% selectively prioritized rights such as freedom of expression and movement. If a cause has even a remotely favorable view of Palestine or Palestinians, one can expect fierce university opposition,' Walker told the Advance. Despite the actions of the university and its contractors being publicized, Walker doesn't feel completely at ease because he worries the university could still take various measures against him. 'On one hand, it feels liberating to be able to raise awareness about what's been happening,' Walker told the Advance. 'On the other hand, I can't help but know that the university police department and City Shield are probably looking for ways to retaliate against me.' Both Walker and Keating say college life is no longer the same and that they no longer socialize freely, to the point that Walker warns his close friends to be careful around him so they don't endanger themselves, while Keating is always watching people around her. 'My life has changed in that I'm on high alert any time I am walking around campus, which is essentially every workday. I'm always looking around to see if someone is watching or following me,' Keating said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Newsweek
42 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Freedom Flotillas: The Deadly History as Greta Thunberg Detained by Israel
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Israel announced on Monday the interception of a "freedom flotilla" carrying activist Greta Thunberg, the latest attempt by pro-Palestinian activists to bring aid into the Gaza Strip amid Israel's restrictions on humanitarian aid entering the territory. Newsweek reached out to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition for comment via email. Why It Matters The vessel, named Madleen and operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, was stopped in international waters on its way to a port in Gaza amid Israel's naval blockade. The FFC said that the group was attempting to deliver humanitarian aid, including food, baby formula and medical supplies. Activists have led these missions to try to bring in aid and food to Gaza, where citizens have faced starvation amid the war between Israel and Hamas. The World Health Organization (WHO) said 2.1 million people in Gaza are "facing prolonged food shortages, with nearly half a million people in a catastrophic situation of hunger, acute malnutrition, starvation, illness and death." On October 7, 2023, Hamas led an attack against Israel, killing 1,200 and abducting 251 people. Today, around 58 people remain captive. Israel has since launched an offensive on Gaza, killing more than 54,000 people, according to the Associated Press, citing Gaza's Health Ministry. What To Know The decades-long conflict between Israel and Hamas has seen several attempts at breaking through the naval blockade of Gaza, and these efforts have at times turned deadly, such as in 2010. That year, the Turkish vessel Mavi Marmara aimed to deliver aid to Gaza and raise awareness about the conditions in the territory. In May 2010, the ship was intercepted by Israel, whose soldiers raided the boat. The raid ended with nine Turkish activists being killed by Israeli naval commandos. Main: The Madleen "freedom flotilla" approaches the Israeli southern port of Ashdod on June 9, 2025. Inset: Greta Thunberg speaks at a press conference in Catania, Italy, on June 1, 2025. Main: The Madleen "freedom flotilla" approaches the Israeli southern port of Ashdod on June 9, 2025. Inset: Greta Thunberg speaks at a press conference in Catania, Italy, on June 1, 2025. JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images;Israel said those on board attacked soldiers using knives and iron bars during the interception. Israel faced outrage over its handling of the first flotilla mission, with former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon being among the global leaders who condemned their response. The International Criminal Court, however, declined to prosecute Israel for the raid. Another "freedom flotilla" was planned for the following year, in 2011, from Athens; however, the Greek government banned Gaza-bound ships from using their ports. Additional flotillas were intercepted in 2015, about 100 miles off the Gaza Coast, and in 2018. Last month, another ship, the Conscience, was allegedly attacked by two drones while sailing in international waters off the coast of Malta, reported the Associated Press. There have been a few successful attempts at reaching Gaza, such as in 2008, when two boats carrying 46 activists successfully broke through the naval blockage. The ships carried cargo, including hearing aids, into the territory despite Israel's restrictions, according to a report from The Guardian at the time. Ship Carrying Greta Thunberg, Other Activists Seized Thunberg and other activists were on board the Madleen—named after Gaza fisherwoman Madleen Kulab, according to Al Jazeera—as part of the latest effort to break through Israel's naval blockade, but were intercepted on Monday about 120 miles off the coast of Gaza. Israel said the activists would be returned to their home countries and that aid would be distributed to Gaza. In total, there were 12 other individuals aboard the ship, including Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament and Al Jazeera Mubasher correspondent Omar Faiad. Huwaida Arraf, a human rights attorney and Freedom Flotilla organizer, said in a press release that the interception "blatantly violates international law and defies the ICJ's binding orders requiring unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza." "These volunteers are not subject to Israeli jurisdiction and cannot be criminalized for delivering aid or challenging an illegal blockade—their detention is arbitrary, unlawful, and must end immediately," Arraf said. What People Are Saying Greta Thunberg said in a pre-recorded video released Monday: "If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters by the Israeli occupational forces, or forces that support Israel." Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, on X (formerly Twitter): "To the antisemitic Greta and her fellow Hamas-propaganda spokespeople, I say clearly: You should turn back—because you will not reach Gaza. Israel will act against any attempt to break the blockade or assist terrorist organizations—at sea, in the air, and on land." Freedom Flotilla organizer Tan Safi, in a press release: "The world's governments remained silent when Conscience was bombed. Now Israel is testing that silence again. Every hour without consequences emboldens Israel to escalate its attacks on civilians, aid workers, and the very foundations of international law." What Happens Next Israeli authorities have indicated that the detained activists will be processed and repatriated. As of Monday, they were being transported to Ashdod.
Wall Street Journal
an hour ago
- Wall Street Journal
The Hate Behind the Chants Heralds Violence
Cynthia Ozick recalls the rhythmic bellowing of hatred against Israel that has resounded in the U.S. since Oct. 7, 2023 ('Antisemitism and the Politics of the Chant,' op-ed, June 4). As the murders in Washington and the attack in Boulder, Colo., illustrate, words of hatred have now inspired terrorist deeds. In April 2024, a group of people gathered to chant near Columbia University. There was a vile clarity and frankness to the hatred and support for Hamas evident among them. The chants Ms. Ozick recalls are themselves a call for war to destroy Israel. On the margins of the movement of the past decade there have been even more radical voices. With masks and keffiyehs, the assembled chanted the following:
