Jewish, Israeli and Zionist artists are facing a growing wave of protests, cancellations and professional exclusion across the entertainment industry, according to new research from the Anti-Defamation League that argues some activism over Israel and Palestine has crossed the line into antisemitism and identity-based exclusion.
The ADL documented 65 cases across 41 U.S. locations involving Jewish, Israeli or Zionist performers, ranging from canceled appearances and disrupted performances to harassment and organized boycott campaigns. The findings are part of the organization’s new “State of the Arts” initiative, which examines what it describes as systemic exclusion of Jewish and Israeli artists across entertainment, publishing and museums.
The entertainment report, titled “Dark Stage: Jewish Voices in Entertainment and the Rise of Cultural Boycotts,” examines incidents that have unfolded amid the Israel-Hamas war and the broader debate over Israel and Zionism since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel. The ADL argues that some campaigns have moved beyond criticism of Israeli policy and toward efforts to prevent artists from participating in cultural spaces because they are Israeli, Jewish, openly Zionist or perceived as supportive of Israel.
The distinction between political protest and discriminatory exclusion is central to the report. The ADL argues that some campaigns cross that line when artists are targeted because they are Jewish, Israeli or perceived as Zionist.
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) and the U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI) did not respond to requests for comment.
“Jewish artists are being canceled, blacklisted and pushed out of American cultural life,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said. “We knew the situation was bad, we just didn’t know how bad, and no one had documented it this way before.”
Among the patterns identified by the ADL is what it calls a “security veto,” in which venues cancel or alter events because of anticipated protests or disruption. The report notes that some cancellations have followed explicit threats or planned demonstrations. In other cases, it can be difficult to determine whether security concerns, controversy or other factors drove the decision.
The report cites musician Mikey Pauker, whose December 2025 performance in California was canceled amid security concerns following what he described as an intimidation campaign tied to his Jewish identity. Israeli musician Raviv Kaner canceled a planned U.S. tour in January 2025 after receiving threats, while the ADL said activists used Telegram to organize protests around his scheduled appearances.
The ADL’s accompanying case archive, which the organization says is not exhaustive, also includes an August campaign urging a Washington, D.C. venue to cancel upcoming Jerry Seinfeld performances. In another case, comedian Judy Gold faced antisemitic abuse during two New York shows in April, including an audience member who shouted, “You’re a Jew.”
Other incidents cited by the ADL are more directly tied to opposition to Israel or Israeli institutions. The report points to campaigns involving Matisyahu, the Batsheva Dance Company and the Israel Philharmonic, as well as a Michigan State University student government vote calling for the cancellation of a lecture by an Israeli actor over his participation in Israel’s mandatory military service.
The ADL also compared the incidents documented in its report with the attitudes expressed by respondents to its survey. In a July survey of 951 U.S. adults, 87% said they somewhat or strongly agreed that they would attend a performance featuring Jewish performers, while 75% said the same of Israeli performers. The survey was conducted through Prolific using a non-probability sample and is not nationally representative, a limitation the ADL acknowledges.
The broader “State of the Arts” project extends beyond entertainment. An ADL assessment of 40 major U.S. art museums found that 12 (or 30%) received its lowest “Critically Deficient” rating based on the group’s assessment of institutional policies, representation and programming. The Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive was the only institution to receive the ADL’s highest rating, while 20 of the 40 museums participated in the organization’s review and corroboration process before publication.
A separate publishing report, based on secondary research and more than 30 interviews with authors and publishing professionals, identified seven trends that the ADL says are affecting Jewish, Israeli and Zionist writers, including difficulties securing literary representation, boycotts, online harassment and pressure to remove Jewish or Israeli elements from manuscripts.
Novelist Meg Keene told the ADL that one prospective agent advised her to remove Hebrew endearments, scenes set in Israel and other Jewish elements from her manuscript and suggested changing her protagonist’s name from Yael to “something like Sue.” Keene said she declined to make the changes and the novel ultimately did not sell.
The ADL is calling on entertainment venues, museums, publishers and other cultural institutions to explicitly address antisemitism in their policies, resist what it considers identity-based pressure campaigns and increase recognition of Jewish artists and cultural heritage.
