(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Social-media users called on audiences to boycott the upcoming Wonka film after lead actor Timothée Chalamet made a joke referencing Hamas in a recent Saturday Night Live skit.
In the skit, three SNL writers—all part of a comedy group known as Please Don’t Destroy—attempt to convince Chalamet, a down-on-his-luck musician, not to end his life.
Despite their clear disdain for his “music,” they agree to share it on Instagram to support his band.
“What’s your band’s name?” a member of the trio asks.
“It’s Hay-mus,” Chalamet’s character, Frank, replies, and then proceeds to spell it out for them: “H-A-M-A-S.”
“Yeah, dude, I’m not sharing a song by Hamas on Instagram,” one of them responds.
The benign reference to the Palestinian terrorist group infuriated lots of people on social media.
One accused him of dishonoring the memory of the famously anti-Semitic Roald Dahl, author of the beloved children’s book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which inspired Chalamet’s latest movie.
“I hope you lot boycott tf [shorthand for an expletive] out of Timothée Chalamet’s Wonka movie btw. [H]im participating in that SNL skit when Roald Dahl himself was pro-Palestine,” tweeted one user whose Twitter profile linked back to the website decolonizepalestine.com.
i hope you lot boycott tf out of timothee chalamet’s wonka movie btw. him participating in that snl skit when roald dahl himself was pro Palestine
— n ◡̈ (@cloudigan) November 12, 2023
Another user, donning a Muslim hijab in her profile photo and the flag of Sierra Leone in her Twitter bio, promised to boycott Chalamet’s Dune 2, as well.
This was really crass.
And he said yes to this?
Willy Wonka and Dune 2 boycott effective immediately. https://t.co/X3jBfKgfSs— Amina Ribena 🫐 (@aminAKActs) November 12, 2023
“This was really crass,” another commented. “And he said yes to this? Willy Wonka and Dune 2 boycott effective immediately.”
Others begged the writers to go back on strike.
Go back on strike
— 𝒟𝒶𝓁𝑒 (@dale_xcx) November 12, 2023
Wonka premieres in theaters on Dec. 15; Dune 2 is set for release on March 1, 2024.
However, conservatives may have their own reasons for staying away as both of the adaptations of classic 20th-century novels have been met with criticism’s for pushing woke revisionism onto audiences.
Wonka, for example, which purports to be an origin story for Dahl’s iconic title character, deletes politically incorrect terms like “fat” and incorporates transgender themes.
Headline USA’s Ben Sellers contributed to this report.
