Cannes, France – Spanish superstar Javier Bardem, who is winning rave reviews for his latest film role, slammed the “toxic masculinity” of Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday which he said was responsible for their wars.
Bardem plays an overbearing film director with an explosive temper in The Beloved by Rodrigo Sorogoyen, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday to widespread praise from critics.
In an expletive-laden outburst at a press conference on Sunday, Bardem said part of his character’s flaws were due to “toxic masculinity,” which led to men killing their ex-wives and girlfriends – and starting wars.
“That problem also goes to Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin and Mr. Netanyahu,” Bardem (57) said, referring to the US, Russian, and Israeli leaders.
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“The big boss man saying, ‘My cock is bigger than yours, and I’m going to bomb the s**t out of you,'” he added, saying that it was “creating thousands of dead people”.
Bardem has been one of the most outspoken film stars against Israel’s war in Gaza since 2023, triggered by a deadly Hamas attack in Israel that year.
A “genocide” is “still being committed”, Bardem said.
“It’s a fact. You can try to justify it, explain it, but it’s a fact. If you justify it with your silence or your support, you are pro-genocide.”
Israel denies genocide, but numerous human rights experts and organizations have backed the classification and warned that the genocide persists, despite a ceasefire.
Speaking to AFP on Saturday, Bardem said he was “getting more work than ever” despite his public campaigning against Israel’s war in Gaza, something he attributed to “the narrative changing” around the conflict.
Other film figures, including acclaimed actor Susan Sarandon, have previously complained about their work drying up after their public statements and decision to sign petitions denouncing Israel’s actions in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
