His influential Free Palestine message was in the face of conflict and humanitarian issues.(Image Credit: YouTube)
As the 77th primetime Emmy awards were being aired Javier Bardem, the Spanish actor, boldly expressed his political outlook when he appeared on the red carpet wearing a ‘keffiyeh’ to support Gaza. It was hosted at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on September 14, 2025, the gathering of the entertainment celebrities globally, and the arrival of Bardem was quite popular.
Nominated once again as Best supporting actor in a limited series, Bardem combined his tuxedo with the keffiyeh, a scarf that is worn in the Middle East, but now is commonly understood as a symbol of Palestinian resistance and unity. He also lifted his fist on the red carpet. In an interview with Variety, Bardem stated his reasons, he criticized what he referred to as genocide in Gaza and cited the conclusions given by International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), an organization which officially declared the situation a genocide. To end the violence he called upon the international community to place a commercial diplomatic blockade and sanctions on Israel. He ended his speech with a thunderous ‘Free Palestine!’
His utterance follows one year plus of war between Israel and Gaza during which there have been growing international demands on accountability, humanitarian measures and diplomatic pressures. The keffiyeh, which was initially a cultural element only, has in the recent years turned into a powerful visual shorthand of protest movements: a symbol of solidarity and resistance. The dressing of Bardem, therefore, had a lot of symbolism, particularly in a platform as exposed as the Emmys red carpet.
Although most statements made by the attendees at the Emmys were centered on the nature of television and the art of acting, the message delivered by Bardem carried the event to the political frontiers. Those who agree or disagree will find themselves compelled to debate the issue of the accountability and danger of all the political activism with the performance and entertainment.
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