Guy Pearce Goes From Pro-Palestine Firebrand to Humbly Apologetic

Australian actor Guy Pearce, the brooding genius from Memento and the Mandarin's right-hand man in Iron Man 3. has been on a wild ride lately. The 58-year-old Oscar nominee (he snagged one for The King's Speech and just got nods for The Brutalist) has long been a vocal pro-Palestine advocate, but his X feed turned into a conspiracy theory dumpster fire over the past month. We're talking classic antisemitic tropes, white nationalist shoutouts, and enough "inadvertent" reposts to make your algorithm blush.

He apologized... sort of... and now he's ghosting social media like it's a bad ex.

The Build-Up: Pearce's Palestine Passion Turns Problematic

Pearce has never been shy about his views on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Back in May 2024, he showed up at Cannes rocking a Palestinian flag pin for a Vanity Fair portrait – only for the mag to Photoshop it out, sparking a massive backlash (and an apology from them: "We mistakenly published a modified photo"). Fast-forward to March 2025, and he's praising folks for "trading Oscars for honor" amid genocide accusations against Israel. But things really heated up in November 2025.

On November 22, Pearce dropped a viral bombshell on X: "I have never been so disgusted by a group of people in my life as I am by Israelis. Everyday I witness their utter disregard & disdain for Palestinian life. It is shameful and sets humanity further backwards with every vile act like this." It was paired with Al Jazeera footage of Israeli soldiers around a shot 15-year-old in the West Bank (who later died).

The post exploded: over 2 million views, 50K likes, thousands of reposts from pro-Palestine accounts like Quds News Network, who hailed him as a hero. Supporters flooded in, calling him "brave" and "a real ally," with one X user quipping he'd "done us all proud" against "hypocrisy."

But here's the shady part: This wasn't isolated "activism." Jewish News dug into his feed and uncovered a pattern of reposts that veered hard into conspiracy territory, all while claiming to support Palestine.

We're talking:

Critics on X pounced. Jewish journalist Nicole Lampert called it "a stream of nasty social media posts," while Trisha Posner blasted: "‘Misinformation’ doesn’t cut it. These are classic, dangerous lies and he platformed all of them."

Pro-Israel accounts like @jenny_katz flipped his words back: "I have never been so disgusted by a person... as Guy Pearce." And the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) didn't hold back in a statement: "Guy Pearce has a long track record of amplifying material that pushes some of the most toxic antisemitic conspiracies... His posts have not been harmless activism; they have spread ideas that sit firmly within the canon of classic antisemitism."

This isn't Pearce's first online oops. In 2023, he got heat for questioning trans actors in roles, deleted the tweets, and groveled: "Raising the question... on Twitter was not a good idea. For that I apologize, enormously." Pattern much?

The Apology: "Deeply Sorry," But Is It Sincere?

By November 27, the backlash hit fever pitch, and Pearce caved, but only to Jewish News, not a public X mea culpa. His statement? "It has been brought to my attention that, in my support of Palestine, I have inadvertently re-posted articles, and/or statements, that have contained misinformation and falsehoods. I am aware how sharing inaccurate content can cause confusion and distress; for this I am deeply sorry. I will certainly endeavour to be more diligent in future to verify anything I share online." Key word: "inadvertently." No full retraction of the antisemitic bits, no shoutout to Fuentes' toxicity – just a polite "oops" on the facts.

Variety, Hollywood Reporter, and NME ran with it, framing it as a "step in the right direction" but echoing CAA's side-eye: "What matters now is whether he genuinely changes his behavior." Blogs like Israellycool were brutal: "Guy Pearce apologizes for 'falsehoods' but not his antisemitism... He thinks apologizing to Jewish News without posting retractions is sufficient. He’s wrong."

The Exit: Logging Off to "Prevent Further Hurt"

Two days later, on November 29 (early Saturday his time), Pearce posted his final X note, a screenshot from his phone's Notes app: "Earlier this week, I issued an apology for sharing misleading and inaccurate posts and commentary on social media. I meant every word of that apology but I recognize that meaningful action must accompany any apology. To prevent any further hurt, confusion or damage to others, I will be stepping back from social media for the time being." Boom – account goes dark. (As of today, it's still quiet.)

The gossip mill's buzzing: Is this career suicide?

The Brutalist is awards bait, and he's got Queen of the Falls with Pamela Anderson coming. CAA warned partners to "think carefully" about associating with him. X whispers suggest his team pushed the delete button hard.

One user joked, "Guy Pearce traded his X for honor... wait, no, that's not how it works." And remember that 2024 Cannes pin drama? This feels like round two of "celebrity activism gone wrong."

The apology feels half-baked and quitting X screams damage control. Hollywood's watching: Will studios drop him? Will his fans forgive, or is this just another A-lister learning Twitter's not for hot takes?