During the Oscars, several celebrities - including Grammy winner Billie Eilish, Oscar nominee Mark Ruffalo, and Ramy Youssef - donned red pins at the 96th Academy Awards to express solidarity with Palestine amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

Egyptian American actor and comedian Ramy Youssef, speaking to Variety during the ceremony, stated, “We’re calling for an immediate, permanent ceasefire in Gaza. We’re calling for peace and lasting justice for the people of Palestine.”

Outside the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, where the awards ceremony was held, hundreds of protesters gathered to denounce the ongoing violence in Palestine. Riot police were deployed as demonstrators chanted slogans like "Free Palestine" and "Let’s shut it down" near the venue, causing a five-minute delay to the start of the ceremony.

Throughout the event, nominees such as ‘Selma’ director Ava DuVernay, Avengers actor Mark Ruffalo, and Best Original Song nominees Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell displayed pins in support of Artists4Ceasefire, an organisation urging an end to the violence and the provision of humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians. A group of over 400 celebrities joined the Artists4Ceasefire campaign in late October, publishing a letter urging the US Congress and President Joe Biden to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Actors and ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ co-stars Milo Machado Grenier and Swann Arlaud were also spotted wearing pins featuring the Palestinian flag.

During his acceptance speech for Best International Feature Award, Jonathan Glazer - director of ‘The Zone of Interest’, a film about life in Nazi Germany which was made in coordination with Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum - stated, “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?” Glazer is the only academy winner that addressed the genocide in Gaza on stage during the ceremony.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 31,112 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed since October 7th.

Billie Eilish & Finneas O’Connell