More than 300 of Hollywood’s most famous names — including Madonna, Chris Rock, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jerry Seinfeld, Bradley Cooper and Tyler Perry — are praising President Biden’s efforts in the Israel-Hamas war as they urge him to “not rest until all hostages are released.”
In an open letter to Biden posted Monday, the group of performers, producers and entertainment industry honchos thanked the 46th president for his “unshakable moral conviction, leadership, and support for the Jewish people, who have been terrorized by Hamas since the group’s founding over 35 years ago, and for the Palestinians, who have also been terrorized, oppressed, and victimized by Hamas for the last 17 years that the group has been governing Gaza.”
“We all want the same thing: Freedom for Israelis and Palestinians to live side by side in peace,” the letter said.
“Freedom from the brutal violence spread by Hamas. And most urgently, in this moment, freedom for the hostages,” it stated.
More than 200 people were kidnapped in the wake of Hamas’s terrorist attack against Israel on Oct. 7. Two elderly women who were kidnapped from their homes in Israel were recovered from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip on Monday.
The group of celebrities signing their name to Monday’s letter said they were “heartened” by the release of the pair of women, as well as the release on Friday of two American hostages.
“We urge everyone to not rest until all hostages are released. No hostage can be left behind,” the letter said.
“Whether American, Argentinian, Australian, Azerbaijani, Brazilian, British, Canadian, Chilean, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, Eritrean, Filipino, French, German, Indian, Israeli, Italian, Kazakh, Mexican, Panamanian, Paraguayan, Peruvian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, South African, Spanish, Sri Lankan, Thai, Ukrainian, Uzbekistani or otherwise,” it concluded, “we need to bring them home.”
Other stars who signed on to the letter include: Bob Odenkirk, Aaron Sorkin, Amy Schumer, Adam Sandler, Eugene Levy, James Corden, Courteney Cox, Diane Von Furstenberg, Gal Gadot, Jack Black, Isla Fisher, Jason Sudeikis, Justin Timberlake, Jessica Biel, Jon Hamm, Judd Apatow, Julianna Margulies, Karlie Kloss, Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom, Liev Schreiber, Martin Short, Olivia Wilde, Sacha Baron Cohen, Sting and Trudie Styler, Tiffany Haddish, Will Ferrell, Billy Crystal, Brooke Shields, Chelsea Handler, Dean Cain, Debra Messing and Elisabeth Shue, among many others.