Susan Sarandon Led Away in Handcuffs Outside Netanyahu’s UN Address

Susan Sarandon’s latest political stand ended with police taking her into custody on a Manhattan street.

The Oscar-winning actress, 79, was detained September 24 during a demonstration near United Nations headquarters as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepared to address world leaders. AFP footage showed officers placing Sarandon in handcuffs as police moved through the protest.

Wearing a shirt reading “Fund People Not Bombs,” the Thelma & Louise star joined demonstrators opposing U.S. support for Israel’s war in Gaza. Footage posted by Status Coup News shows officers taking Sarandon into custody.

Hacks actress Hannah Einbinder was also detained. Cynthia Nixon attended the demonstration, while other prominent participants included comedian Caleb Hearon and Chelsea Manning. The Guardian reported that Hearon and Manning were among those taken into custody.

The gathering was part of a broader wave of protests surrounding Netanyahu’s visit. Demonstrators occupied part of First Avenue near the UN, carrying signs demanding an end to U.S. arms supplies to Israel.

Police said the street blockage prompted their response.

An NYPD spokesperson told AFP that officers encountered people blocking an intersection and issued warnings to leave. Those who continued obstructing the roadway were taken into custody, the spokesperson said.

The police statement did not identify individual detainees or provide an arrest total. Specific charges against Sarandon were not confirmed in the reporting reviewed for this article.

Jewish Voice for Peace helped organize the demonstration, which drew attention to both the war and Washington’s role in supplying Israel with weapons. Nixon told reporters she wanted American elected officials to stop funding Israel’s military actions.

Inside the General Assembly, Netanyahu faced a separate display of opposition as dozens of delegates walked out. He defended Israel’s actions and rejected accusations of genocide.

For Sarandon, the detention came less than three weeks after she said her political activism was still costing her work.

Speaking September 6 at the Venice Film Festival, where she was promoting The Echo Chamber, she said agencies continued discouraging filmmakers from hiring her.

“I’ve still had movies taken away recently because there are agencies that are telling people not to hire me still,” she told reporters, according to Reuters. Those assertions about recent casting decisions are Sarandon’s account.

Her professional fallout dates to November 2023, when United Talent Agency dropped her following controversial remarks at a pro-Palestinian rally.

Sarandon had compared Jewish Americans’ fears amid rising antisemitism with the discrimination experienced by Muslim Americans. Critics said her comments minimized the long history of violence and persecution against Jews.

She apologized publicly on December 1, 2023, acknowledging that her wording wrongly suggested Jewish people had only recently experienced persecution. She said she regretted diminishing that history and hurting people.

Thursday’s demonstration put Sarandon back at the center of that public debate. The immediate unanswered questions concern her detention: whether she faces a charge, when she will be released and whether she will issue a statement about what happened.