By Anthony Lund Published November 21, 2023

Maha Dakhil, Tom Cruise' agent, resigned from her position as co-chief of the motion picture department of Creative Artists Agency earlier this month.

Since the Hamas terror attacks in Israel, there has been a growing divide around the world over what is right and what is wrong, who can and cannot share an opinion on the subject, and in the case of Hollywood, who can make social media posts and suffer the consequences for sharing their personal thoughts.

In the last few days, Susan Sarandon was dropped by her agency for comments made during a pro-Palestine rally. Today Melissa Barrera was dropped from her role in horror sequel Scream VII due to posts on her Instagram account being perceived as 'anti-semitic.' In a report by Variety, it has now been revealed that top Hollywood agent Maha Dakhil found herself being relieved of her duties as co-chief of the motion pictures department at Creative Artists Agency, but she was reportedly allowed to remain an agent thanks to an intervention by one of her clients: Tom Cruise.

According to the report, Dakhil found herself in the middle of a storm after sharing a number of Instagram posts relating to the ongoing Middle East conflict, one of which read, “What’s more heartbreaking than witnessing genocide? Witnessing the denial that genocide is happening.” Cruise was said to have “made it known” that he was fully supporting his agent, and took the “rare step” of meeting with Dakhil in her CAA office on November 15 to double-down on his show of solidarity.

While Dakhil was allowed to continue in her role as an agent, sources said that the incident caused a large rift among staff, with some threatening to walk out over the treatment of her, while others became “disillusioned” at the agent not being fired. At the same time, CAA was said to have cut ties with several others, including a staffer and two clients, over “incendiary anti-Israeli social media posts.” In a statement to Variety, Dakhil said:

"I made a mistake with a repost in my Instagram story, which used hurtful language. Like so many of us, I have been reeling with heartbreak. I pride myself on being on the side of humanity and peace. I'm so grateful to Jewish friends and colleagues who pointed out the implications and further educated me. I immediately took the repost down. I’m sorry for the pain I have caused."

The end of the COVID pandemic, along with the reopening of theaters and dropping of restrictions, appeared to be the end of Hollywood’s worst time in years. Having barely re-started many canceled and postponed productions, this year saw another huge wave of disruption as first the WGA and then the SAG-AFTRA took strike action over current pay standards and the increased use of AI in the industry.

Those strikes finally came to an end in the last few weeks, but now the specter of disruption is manifesting again, as celebrities are drawn into conflicts of their own thanks to their personal opinions on the situation in the Middle East.

Back in October, many celebrities began to use their social media influence to share their thoughts on the outbreak of war, some siding one way, some the other, and a few remaining neutral in their words. Among those to speak out on the matter were Barbie and Argylle star and singer Dua Lipa, Selena Gomez, Gal Gadot, Viola Davis, and Emma Watson, whose comments gained further support from Mark Ruffalo, Viggo Mortensen, Susan Sarandon, and Gael Garcia Bernal. Meanwhile, comments from people such as Amy Schumer and Brett Gelman have garnered less support.

With today’s firing of Melissa Barrera leading to a new wave of social media commentary, it seems that the divide is only going to grow in the immediate future.