This year’s Emmy Awards saw some of television’s brightest stars use their platform to raise awareness about the conflict in Gaza.
Hannah Einbinder, the Hacks actor who took home the Emmy for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy, made a striking appearance with a red Artists4Ceasefire pin and used her acceptance speech to make a pointed political statement.
Concluding her speech, she declared: “Go birds, fuck Ice and free Palestine,” before the music cut in.
Speaking to the press backstage, Einbinder shared her personal connection to the issue. She highlighted friends working on the frontlines in Gaza, providing medical care to pregnant women and supporting education in refugee camps.
She said: “It’s close to my heart for many reasons. As a Jewish person, I feel it’s my responsibility to separate my faith and culture from the actions of the Israeli state, which is a distinct ethno-nationalist entity.”
The red Artists4Ceasefire pins, also sported by White Lotus stars Aimee Lou Wall and Natasha Rothwell, Ruth Negga from Presumed Innocent, and Chris Perfetti of Abbott Elementary, call on the US government to push for an “immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Gaza and Israel before another life is lost.”
The pins have been a regular sight on red carpets since 2023, appearing at the Oscars and last year’s Emmys.
Spanish actor Javier Bardem, nominated for his role in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, drew attention with a Palestinian keffiyeh on the red carpet. He told reporters he refuses to work with anyone who “justifies or supports the genocide” and emphasized that losing work is “absolutely irrelevant compared to what is happening in Gaza.”
Megan Stalter, another Hacks star, used a creative accessory to voice her support, carrying a purse emblazoned with “Ceasefire!” in marker.
In a show of solidarity, Einbinder recently joined thousands of industry professionals in signing the Film Workers for Palestine pledge. The commitment calls for boycotting Israeli film institutions involved in the violence, not individual filmmakers, as a way to apply pressure on those responsible.