Actor John Malkovich was recently under fire for releasing a quote about a scheduled appearance in Tel Aviv. The statement said that Malkovich was “thrilled to return to Israel” and looked “forward to meeting the warm Israeli audience once again, to whom I feel a strong closeness and solidarity.” A PR firm that released the statement made those quotes up and did not have Malkovich’s approval in sharing them, resulting in Malkovich canceling the event.
The Being John Malkovich actor released a statement to The Hollywood Reporter about the situation, making it clear that he did not say any of the things that the PR company sent out. He was meant to go to perform his live theatre piece, The Music Critic, written by Aleksey Igudesma. Malkovich has been touring the piece around the world but the Israeli PR firm hired for this particular performance has led to Malkovich canceling the event all together.
“A PR company hired by the Israeli promoter drafted a quote for the article that was attributed to me, though I never made the statements that were quoted, nor was I consulted before they were printed,” Malkovich told THR. “I did not utter these phrases, and they most certainly are not approved by me, nor do they reflect my feelings. The fact that they were printed as direct quotes from me is unacceptable and untenable. For this reason, I have decided I cannot participate in the Tel Aviv performance.”
According to THR, the PR company did also admit to releasing the statement that Malkovich is rebuking and admitted he didn’t say it. “Mr. Malkovich did not make, provide, authorize or approve this statement, nor was it approved by his representatives,” said the firm. THR stated the PR firm was hired by Alon Yurick, the show’s Israeli producer.
John Malkovich on taking his art to other countries
Malkovich’s response to the quote came from Malkovich himself reading about it on THR. He was not aware of the statement seeing as he didn’t say it or approve it. But he did go on to clarify that if he did go through with the performance, he does not see him going to another country as “solidarity” for what the country is doing politically. Currently, Israel is acting in what many human rights organizations and international bodies are calling a genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza.
You can read his quote below:
My appearance in any country, even my own, does not constitute approval of said country’s policies, nor actions, nor its elected or unelected leaders. My appearances would also not condone nor mean that I am in supposed “solidarity” with any particular political cause, nor with the killing of innocents, nor with any acts of terrorism, nor any other kind of barbarity.
Generally speaking, I believe that we need more culture and more beauty in more places, not less. Art, at its best, reminds us that the exercise of our shared humanity can and should be a tool to bridge our conflicts and our griefs, our grievances and our sorrows, and that the exercise of artistic freedom is often the greatest form of protest against savagery. I look forward to continuing to exercise my artistic freedom, come what may. However, only playwrights, novelists and screenwriters can put words in my mouth, and even then, only in the service of storytelling, and no one else should think they can do that without my consent and without the resultant consequences.
Malkovich will not be performing in Tel Aviv.
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