Maha Dakhil, co-chair of CAA’s motion-pictures department, is vacating her leadership positions after her comments on the Israel-Hamas war, CAA confirmed to the Los Angeles Times on October 22. She will continue to represent clients — her roster includes Tom Cruise, Natalie Portman, Reese Witherspoon, and Anne Hathaway, among others — but is also resigning from CAA’s internal agency board. The comments included reposting an Instagram story on October 18 that read, “You’re currently learning who supports genocide,” with text reading, “That’s the line for me,” and a second Instagram story that said, “What’s more heartbreaking than witnessing genocide? Witnessing the denial that genocide is happening,” the Times reported.
Dakhil later apologized for the post on October 18. “Choice of words is important,” she wrote on Instagram, according to Deadline. “Dialogue is healing. As each excruciating day passes, I’m listening and learning more from my friends. Thank you. I’m holding all our families in my prayers … I am grieving for everyone who is suffering right now. I continue to mourn all innocent lives. My mission is peace.”
“I made a mistake with a repost in my Instagram story, which used hurtful language,” Dakhil said in an additional statement on October 19, per Deadline. “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.”
