Hollywood grapples with war

– With the Oscars set for tomorrow, Hollywood is weighing how or whether to address Russia’s bloody assault on Ukraine, trying to thread the needle between showing support for Kyiv and being seen as too preachy.

As Leonardo DiCaprio’s climate crisis warning and Joaquin Phoenix’s outrage over artificially inseminated cows have recently shown, A-listers are rarely shy about making political statements at the Academy Awards – despite accusations of hypocrisy.

But after Oscars host Amy Schumer raised the idea of inviting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to speak at the ceremony via video, some have wondered if less might be more, in terms of acknowledging the crisis.

“It’s all about the manner in which it’s addressed,” said Scott Feinberg, awards columnist for The Hollywood Reporter.

“If it looks like it’s just pandering or lecturing, that’s not going to go over well. But if it’s heartfelt and meaningful, then I think it will have a different result.”

One example of Hollywood stars using their platform effectively is a GoFundMe site launched by Mila Kunis – who was born in Ukraine – and her husband Ashton Kutcher.

It has raised more than $35 million (about R508 million) toward relief supplies and free short-term housing for Ukrainian refugees in neighbouring countries – and drew praise from Zelensky himself.

Kutcher and “Mila Kunis were among the first to respond to our grief”, wrote Zelensky, a former actor.

Sean Penn, who was in the Ukrainian capital to shoot a documentary when the Russian invasion began, has signed an agreement for his foundation to provide education and shelter for refugees in Poland.

“Ukraine is the tip of the spear for the democratic embrace of dreams. If we allow it to fight alone, our soul as America is lost,” he said.

Terminator star Arnold Schwarzenegger appealed to Russian leader Vladimir Putin to end the “senseless” war in Ukraine, in a video message that went viral.

And many less wellknown filmmakers have been chronicling Ukraine’s conflict since 2014, when Putin annexed Crimea and backed separatist rebels in the Donbas region. –