Jason Blum Gets Booed and Removed from Stage After Speaking Out Against Trump at L.A.’s Israel Film Festival

Jason Blum spent the night of the midterm elections at the Israel Film Festival in Los Angeles, where he was on hand to receive the 2018 Achievement in Film & Television Award. Blum attempted to speak out against Donald Trump while making his acceptance speech, but his comments did not go over well with the crowd. Variety reports the mega-producer was booed and heckled by the crowd, and he was eventually removed from the stage.

“A lot is on the line, the last two years have been hard for all of us who cherish the freedom as citizens of this country,” Blum said at the start of the speech, which immediately attracted boos from the audience. As Blum continued, Variety reports some audience members began to walk out of the event held at the Saban Theater in Beverly Hills.

“The great thing about this country is that you can like Trump, but I don’t have to, and I can say what I feel about it — and I don’t like it!” Blum said. “As you can see from this auditorium, it’s the end of civil discourse. We have a president who calls the press the enemy of the people. Thanks to our president, anti-semitism is on the rise.”

Yossi Dina, an Israeli pawnbroker, jumped onstage and attempted to pull Blum offstage. The crowd cheered and clapped at Dina, who eventually backed off after a woman called security.

“Enjoy the movie, and I love and respect all of you,” Blum said. “Now I’m being physically removed, which is why Trump is not the right guy.”

Blum later took to his Twitter page, reacting to the night by writing, “Well, this night kind of went haywire.”

Blum is the founder of Blumhouse Productions, which had blockbuster success last month with the release of David Gordon Green’s “Halloween.” The company’s upcoming releases in 2019 include M. Night Shyamalan’s “Glass,” Jordan Peele’s “Us,” and “Happy Death Day 2U.”

Well, this night went kinda haywire. https://t.co/NMb37yQAUn

— Jason Blum (@jason_blum) November 7, 2018