British actress Florence Pugh criticised the delay by many Hollywood stars in showing sympathy for Palestinians, stressing that she had not hesitated to make her position known, despite believing this had cost her hundreds of thousands of followers on social media platforms. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Pugh said she did not know why people had needed so much time to respond to what Palestinians were experiencing.
Pugh rejects treating silence as neutrality
She added: ‘I was never afraid of that’, explaining that she had continued to question why it had taken so long for people to show solidarity, while images of suffering continued to emerge. The British actress pointed to the Palestinians’ ongoing suffering, saying that children were still dying and mothers were still in pain.
She said the scale of this pain made social media difficult for her to navigate, as she could move in a single moment from posting content about details of her daily life to seeing an image of a child who had lost both parents. In recent years, Pugh has continued to share links to fundraising campaigns and provide humanitarian aid.
Wembley event raises 1.5 million pounds
She also took part in September 2025 in the ‘Together for Palestine’ event, held at Wembley Arena in the British capital, London, which raised 1.5 million pounds sterling to support humanitarian organisations led by Palestinian bodies. Addressing the event’s audience, Pugh said: ‘Silence in the face of such suffering is not neutrality, but complicity’, adding that showing empathy should not be this difficult and should never have been.
Her participation extended her public positions and the aid-raising campaigns she has supported through her platforms. The Wembley event featured a group of artists and actors, including Richard Gere, Riz Ahmed, Nicola Coughlan, Damon Albarn and Paul Weller, alongside Pugh. The money raised by the event was allocated to humanitarian organisations led by Palestinian bodies.
At the same event, Coughlan called on artists with large followings to use their platforms to speak about the suffering of Palestinians. A number of artists and cultural figures continue to declare their support for Palestinians, either by taking part in fundraising events or using their accounts to express solidarity with civilians in Gaza.
Other artists have taken part in fundraising campaigns and events in recent months, while some have signed statements and letters calling for an end to the war on Gaza and the protection of civilians.
Pugh’s latest comments come amid this artistic and cultural movement supporting Palestinians and calling for humanitarian aid to continue.
