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Several high-profile celebrities have been detained outside of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City as part of a planned protest while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered remarks.
Hacks star and Emmy winner Hannah Einbinder and Thelma & Louise actor Susan Sarandon were among those detained, per the New York Post. It’s unclear if they were hit with charges.
A massive crowd gathered Thursday ahead of Netanyahu’s planned speech as part of an anti-war sit-in protest outside the UN organized by Jewish Voice for Peace. Photos showed celebrities and personalities — including Sex and the City star Cynthia Nixon, whistleblower Chelsea Manning and comedian Caleb Heron — among hundreds in attendance. Protesters chanted, “Netanyahu you can’t hide, you are wanted for genocide,” while demanding his arrest.
NYPD officers tried to clear the street outside the UN ahead of Netanyahu’s speech but resorted to detaining attendees. The Independent has reached out to the NYPD for comment and clarification.
Sarandon was photographed sitting among the crowd, sporting a “Fund people not bombs” shirt, and later getting led away in handcuffs by NYPD officers.
Video footage showed Einbinder shouting “Free Palestine” and “Get Netanyahu out of New York” as she was ushered away from the protest by NYPD officers.
Ahead of the protest, she said, per The Guardian: “We will not be silent as our government fully funds a genocide in Palestine. This moment calls on each and every one of us to speak out and demand the U.S. stop funding genocide.”
Einbinder has openly spoken about her views as a Jewish woman, famously saying “F*** ICE and free Palestine” during her 2025 Emmys speech.
Afterward, she said: “I feel like it is my obligation as a Jewish person to distinguish Jews from the State of Israel, because our religion and our is such an important and long standing institution that is really separate to this sort of ethno-nationalist state.”
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Einbinder added that she has friends working on the frontline as doctors in the north of Gaza to care for pregnant women and school children in the refugee camps, per Deadline.
Sarandon, meanwhile, has said that her support of Palestine has led to her losing out on film roles.
Earlier this year, she revealed she was dropped by her agency, United Talent Agency, in 2023, in what she says was a response to her “marching and speaking out about Gaza.”
“It became impossible for me to even be on television,” she said at a press conference while attending Barcelona’s Goya Awards to accept a career achievement award.
“I don’t know lately if it’s changed, but, I couldn’t do any major film, anything connected with Hollywood.”