The National Association of Television Program Executives, or NATPE, has banned Russian companies from their upcoming television sales event this June in Budapest, the organization announced Tuesday.
The group’s statement reads: “The Ukrainian people have our full support over the barbaric and horrific invasion of their homeland by the brutal dictator Putin and his surrogates. We wish we could provide more tangible assistance, but what we can do is join the world community and prevent Russian presence from conducting commerce. Therefore we are banning Russian companies from our upcoming international television sales market to be held in Budapest from June 27-30, 2022. We pray for the Ukrainian people and hope they continue their battle to an ultimate victory for their great, independent country.”
A host of global companies have taken action aimed at Russian media, businesses, and even the economy following the country’s invasion of Ukraine. That includes DirecTV, which on Tuesday said it was dropping Kremlin-backed RT America.
The National Asoociation of Broadcasters called on U.S. companies on Tuesday to “cease carrying any state-sponsored programming with ties to the Russian government or its agents.” And in Europe, the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, is urging companies to follow the lead of Google, Microsoft, Facebook and other companies in banning Russian state-owned media.
Paramount has announced it is holding back the Sandra Bullock/Channing Tatum adventure comedy “The Lost City” and the family film sequel “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” from Russia, the latest studio to pull new releases following the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
Paramount’s announcement comes after Warner Bros. paused the release of “The Batman.” Disney is also yanking the Pixar film “Turning Red” and Sony is pulling “Morbius.”
Netflix also made a statement Monday saying it would decline to carry state-run Russian TV channels on its streaming service despite a local law that would require any company with more than 100,000 subscribers to do so.
On Monday evening the Motion Picture Association condemned the Russian attack. Hours earlier, FIFA and UEFA indefinitely banned Russian football teams from international play, including this year’s World Cup. And last Friday SAG-AFTRA also expressed support for Ukraine and condemnation of the invasion.