Stars on Oscars red carpet wear ceasefire pins
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Singer-songwriters Finneas O'Connell (left) and Billie Eilish wearing "Artists4Ceasefire" pins at the Oscars in Hollywood, California, on Sunday. Photo: David Swanson/AFP via Getty Images
Oscars attendees including Billie Eilish, Mark Ruffalo and Ramy Youssef wore red pins on the red carpet in support of an Israel-Hamas ceasefire on Sunday.
The big picture: In addition to highlighting the plight of civilians in Gaza and Hamas hostages, some attendees used their platform to highlight Russian forces' invasion of Ukraine.
Zoom in: "The pin symbolizes collective support for an immediate and permanent cease-fire, the release of all of the hostages and for the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza," per a statement from Artists4Ceasefire, the group behind the campaign.
- The group that comprises members of the entertainment industry last week urged President Biden to call for a ceasefire in an open letter signed by nearly 400 people including 2024 Oscar nominees Bradley Cooper and America Ferrera, among a host of other stars.
- Actor-comedian Youssef, an Oscars presenter and star of best picture-nominated film "Poor Things," told Variety that they're also "calling for peace and lasting justice for the people of Palestine."
Zoom out: Hundreds of protesters calling for an immediate Israel-Hamas ceasefire disrupted traffic close to the Dolby Theatre near the start of the 96th Academy Awards at the venue.
- Inside the theater, Jonathan Glazer, the British filmmaker whose Auschwitz drama "The Zone of Interest" won best international film, noted onstage "our film shows where dehumanization leads at its worst."
- The Jewish filmmaker added: "Right now, we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation, which has led to conflict for so many innocent people — whether the victims of October the 7th in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza — all the victims of this dehumanization… how do we resist?"
Meanwhile, Mstyslav Chernov, whose film "20 Days in Mariupol" won the best documentary Oscar, said as he accepted the first-ever Oscar for a Ukrainian film: "I am honoured, but I will probably be the first director on this stage to say that I wish I had never made this film.
- "I wish to be able to exchange this for Russia never attacking Ukraine, never invading our cities."
Go deeper: Bibi pushes back on Biden's criticism of Gaza war strategy
Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.
