Maha Dakhil, who was Co-Head of Motion Pictures at CAA, has stepped away from leadership and resigned from the agency’s internal board after her controversial comments on Israel’s response to the Hamas terror attacks.
Dakhil represents stars including Tom Cruise and Natalie Portman and the move comes after talks with the Bryan Lourd, Kevin Huvane and Richard Lovett-led agency.
She will, however, continue working with clients, although is expected to step away from certain teams.
CAA just sent out an internal note with the changes.
It comes after she reposted an Instagram story earlier this week that said, “You’re currently learning who supports genocide”.
Dakhil, who also represents the likes of Anne Hathaway, Reese Witherspoon and Olivia Wilde, subsequently apologized in a statement and admitted that she made a “mistake”.
“I made a mistake with a repost in my Instagram story, which used hurtful language. 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,” she said in a statement.
There was some confusion yesterday as to whether that Dakhil represented Steven Spielberg, but Deadline has confirmed that despite being listed on Spielberg’s IMDb Pro page, she does not work with the Schindler’s List director.
The move comes as a group of showrunners and high-profile WGA members got together yesterday to discuss why the WGA has been silent on the issue.
Chaired by American Soul creator Jonathan Prince, the Zoom meeting was expected to feature the likes of Sacha Baron Cohen, Jerry Seinfeld, Mad Men creator Matt Weiner, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s Amy Sherman-Palladino.
The meeting comes almost a week after dozens of high-profile WGA members put out an open letter reprimanding guild leadership for “when terrorists invaded Israel to murder, rape, and kidnap Jews… the Guild stayed silent,” guild members are getting together to say something more.
