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Egyptian-born comedian Bassem Youssef claims he lost a role in James Gunn‘s Superman Legacy movie due to his public support of Palestine, however, a source close to production tells Deadline, that’s not the case: Youssef was never formerly offered the role.
We hear that Youssef taped an audition pre-actors strike for the role of Rumaan Harjadi. However, by the time Gunn turned in his final shooting strike post writers’ strike ending in late September, that role was cut. This was all before the tragic events of Oct. 7, 2023. Hence per the Superman Legacy production source — no official ask was made to Youssef. Given that the actors strike was still ongoing in late September, and didn’t end until early November, no communication about Youssef obtaining or not obtaining the role would have been communicated to him.
During an Oct. 17 appearance on Piers Morgan: Uncensored, Youssef slammed Israel saying, “They said Israel is the only military force in the world that warns civilians before bombing them.”
He added, “How f*cking cute! That is so nice of them because with this logic, if Russian troops started warning Ukrainians before bombing their houses, we’re cool with Putin, right?”
In a recent interview with Salon this week, Youssef said he believed those comments spurred his losing a role in Superman: Legacy role due to the Piers Morgan interview.
“Because of that, I was cast in the movie, Superman, and then they told me, ‘We changed the script,’ after this Piers Morgan interview. I want to assume good faith. I want to know, I want to believe that this is true.”
He added, “I was a little bit bitter, and I wanted to go, I was like, ‘Oh, screw DC, screw Warner Bros.’ But then I understand, I understand the emotional burden that those people have. I mean, those people have a connection with Israel.”
He continued, “I understand maybe the people who are in charge, that took the decision, looked at me and didn’t want to have me. And maybe I understand. If I’m an Arab Muslim, I was the head of Warner Bros., I wouldn’t like a pro-Zionist or a pro-Israel to be in my movie if he attacked my people. I understand. This is the thing that we need to dissect: when I attack Israel, I attack its policy, I’m not attacking Jewish people.”
Another source close to the situation believes that perhaps this is a case of “He said-he said;” we’re told Youssef feels strongly that his public political opinions got him nixed from production.
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