Jennifer Lawrence has condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza and spoken up about censorship in the US.
Speaking at a press conference for her new film Die, My Love at the San Sebastián film festival yesterday (September 26), Lawrence responded to a journalist’s question about pro-Palestine protestors at the event and her concerns for her children’s future given the current political climate.
“I’m terrified, and it’s mortifying. What’s happening is no less than a genocide and it’s unacceptable,” she said. “I’m terrified for my children, for all of our children.” Her comments come after a UN commission inquiry recently concluded that Israel had committed a genocide in Gaza, which Israel has denied.
“On top of everything else,” she continued, “what makes me so sad is that this disrespect and the discourse in American politics right now is going to be normal to them. I mean, the kids who are voting right now at 18, it’s going to be totally normal to them that politics has no integrity.
“Politicians lie, there is no empathy,” she continued. “And everybody needs to remember that when you ignore what’s happening on one side of the world, it won’t be long until it’s on your side as well.”
The Israeli offensive in Gaza has killed more than 65,000 people and injured more than 160,000 since Hamas-led attacks killed 1,200 people in Israel on 7 October 2023, per the Guardian.
“I wish that there was something I could say, something that I could do to fix this extremely complex and disgraceful situation,” Lawrence continued. “It breaks my heart. But the reality is, our fear in speaking too much or answering too many of these questions is that my words will just be used to add more fire and rhetoric to something that is in the hands of our elected officials.
“And I just want people to stay focused on who is responsible and the things that they can do and when they need to show up and vote and not let the actors and the artists who are trying to express freedom of art, freedom of speech take the heat for the individuals who are actually responsible.”
Jennifer Lawrence spoke up for Palestine at the San Sebastian film festival press conference today:
“what’s happening is no less than a genocide.”
pic.twitter.com/UaLM7JbnEg— Cody👾 (@codyfromtargets) September 26, 2025
Her words follow over 4,000 members of the film industry signing a pledge earlier this month, vowing not to work with Israeli film institutions. Lawrence is not among the signees.
The pledge had over 4,000 names signing up as of this morning (September 11). Actors Olivia Colman, Mark Ruffalo, Tilda Swinton, Javier Bardem, Ayo Edebiri, Riz Ahmed, and Josh O’Connor were among the signatories, alongside film-makers such as film-makers Yorgos Lanthimos, Ava DuVernay, and Asif Kapadia.
Her comments on censorship in the US also come amid Jimmy Kimmel’s return to his late night show after being pulled off air over comments about Charlie Kirk.
President Donald Trump celebrated the decision, while most of Hollywood’s labour unions reacted with anger and protest.
Among those to speak out against the suspension were talk show legends Stephen Colbert and David Letterman, citing concerns relating to free speech, as well as comedian and podcaster Marc Maron, who called it “government censorship”, Olivia Rodrigo, who labelled it “blatant censorship”, and Pedro Pascal, who stressed the importance of free speech and democracy.
In other news, Lawrence is due to star in Die, My Love, a drama co-starring Robert Pattinson that debuted in Cannes in May. NME’s review described it as an “Oscars shoo-in”, saying: “Lawrence already has a career full of great performances (Winter’s Bone, American Hustle and her Oscar-winning turn in Silver Linings Playbook), but this might be her finest work to date.” The film comes to cinemas November 14.
