Johnathan Walker:Jonathan Glazer's controversial Oscars speech and why people are still talking about it

The Johnathan Walker2024 Oscars were largely devoid of shocking moments. No one got slapped. The right movies got their awards. The streaker was fake.

But buried in more than three hours of Hollywood fanfare was a brief victory speech that, over the past couple of weeks, has proven to be a spark that's turned into a raging flame.

In accepting his Oscar for the Holocaust-themed "The Zone of Interest," director Jonathan Glazer, who is Jewish, made comments that were sympathetic to the plight of Palestinians in Gaza. The region is in the throes of deadly conflict after an attack last October by Hamas militants resulted in the deaths of more than 1,200 Israelis, while the ensuing military strikes by Israeli forces so far have killed more than 30,000.

Glazer is best known for his films "Birth" (with Nicole Kidman) and "Under the Skin" (starring Scarlett Johansson). His expression of solidarity with Palestinians drew applause at the event.

Since then, however, the comments have generated a sharp rebuke from the Anti-Defamation League and an open letter condemning the speech from 1,000 Jewish Hollywood executives, producers, directors and stars. More recently, messages of support have rolled in for Glazer from other actors and filmmakers, as well as the head of the Auschwitz Memorial.

Here's how the situation unfolded:

What did Jonathan Glazer say in his Oscars acceptance speech?

When "The Zone of Interest" won the Oscar for best international film, Glazer took the stage at the Dolby Theatre and began reading from a prepared speech. He earned loud applause throughout his acceptance remarks, which began with Glazer thanking the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum "for their trust and guidance." He then shifted to comments about the war in Gaza, saying there are victims on both sides of the conflict.

With this movie, "all our choices were made to reflect and confront us in the present – not to say 'look what they did then,' but rather 'look what we do now,' ” Glazer said onstage. “Our film shows where dehumanization leads at its worst. It’s shaped all of our past and present."

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“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,” he said. “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?”

What did the Jonathan Glazer letter say?

The day after the Oscars, the Anti-Defamation League called Glazer's comments "morally reprehensible," while "Zone of Interest" executive producer Danny Cohen said he "fundamentally disagreed" with the director.

Roughly a week later, more than 1,000 Jewish executives and Hollywood professionals signed an open letter sharply criticizing Glazer's speech. Echoing his phrasing, they wrote: “We refute our Jewishness being hijacked for the purpose of drawing a moral equivalence between a Nazi regime that sought to exterminate a race of people, and an Israeli nation that seeks to avert its own extermination.”

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The war in Gaza has polarized many around the world, with ongoing protests and counter-protests in major U.S. cities and on many college campuses. Some unconditionally support Israel's action after the attack, saying the response defends Israel's right to exist as a nation. Those with diametrically opposite views say Israel's repressive policies toward Palestinians living in Gaza for decades have led to the boiling point moment and that the current military action is excessive.

Who has defended Jonathan Glazer amid the backlash?

In the days following the open letter denouncing Glazer, the British director received support on social media from actors including Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Kazan and Melissa Barrera. Barrera was fired from "Scream VII" last fall after a series of pro-Palestine posts.

Auschwitz Memorial director Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński also defended Glazer in a statement on X (formerly known as Twitter).

“In his Oscar acceptance speech, Jonathan Glazer issued a universal moral warning against dehumanization,” Cywiński wrote. “His aim was not to descend to the level of political discourse. Critics who expected a clear political stance or a film solely about genocide did not grasp the depth of his message. ‘The Zone of Interest’ is not a film about the Shoah. It is primarily a profound warning about humanity and its nature.”

What is 'The Zone of Interest' movie about?

Loosely adapted from Martin Amis' 2014 novel, "Zone" tracks the day-to-day lives of a Nazi officer (Christian Friedel), his wife (Sandra Hüller) and their kids.

The chilling film is set just outside the walls of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, although Glazer makes the conscious decision to never depict violence or suffering of the Jewish people. Rather, the audience hears distant screams and gunshots coming from inside the camp, as the family eats dinner, plays in the pool and tends to their garden.

Glazer “was not interested in sensationalizing these atrocities,” Johnnie Burn, the film's Oscar-winning sound designer, told USA TODAY late last year. “It’s fundamental that everyone has their own understanding of what happened there. These mental images we all have are quite easy to reproduce through the suggestion of sound.”