John Cusack has reached out to Angelina Jolie after her father, actor Jon Voight, criticized her stance on the Israel-Hamas war.
The Maleficent actress and her father have long had a tumultuous relationship, with their differing political views causing tension over the years.
On Wednesday, Cusack shared a post on X, formerly Twitter, about Jolie's advocacy for the people of Gaza.
Originally shared by the account Global Eye News (@GlobalEyeNews), the post included a photo of Jolie at a press conference, along with the caption "Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie accuses world leaders of complicity in crimes in Gaza."
The account appeared to be referencing a post that Jolie shared on Instagram in early November in which she condemned Israel's bombing of Gaza.
"Welcome aboard, Angie," Cusack wrote alongside the Global Eye News post. His comment has received 1.6 million views at the time of publication.
On October 7, Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing roughly 1,200 people. Israel subsequently fired airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, where the Palestinian militant group is based. Israel suspended supplies of water, energy, fuel, and medicine in the territory before a ground offensive into the area was launched.
As of July 25, more than 39,000 people have been killed in Gaza, the Associated Press reports, citing the Gaza Health Ministry.
In an interview with Variety published on Tuesday, Voight criticized his daughter's stance on the Israel-Hamas war, believing Jolie has "been exposed to propaganda."
"She's been influenced by antisemitic people," the Midnight Cowboy star said. "Angie has a connection to the U.N., and she's enjoyed speaking out for refugees. But these people are not refugees."
Newsweek has reached out to Jon Voight, Angelina Jolie and John Cusack for comment via email.
Jolie was a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador from 2001 to 2012 before serving as a Special Envoy until 2022. The 49-year-old worked with the U.N.'s High Commissioner for Refugees, advocating for displaced people across the globe.
In October, Jolie called for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
"What happened in Israel is an act of terror. But that cannot justify the innocent lives lost in bombing a civilian population in Gaza that has nowhere to go, no access to food or water, no possibility of evacuation, and not even the basic human right to cross a border to seek refuge," she wrote on Instagram.
"My focus is on the people displaced by violence in any context," she continued. "Gaza has a population of over 2 million people (half of them children), who have lived under a severe blockade for nearly two decades, on top of decades of displacement and statelessness."
Like Jolie, Cusack has called for a ceasefire.
"My god – my god – if you don't call for a cease fire – You have no soul – We can't stop until this stops – it's the most shameful thing I can imagine – staying silent in the face of this," the High Fidelity actor wrote on X in January.
However, the watchdog group StopAntisemitism branded Cusack their "Antisemite of the Week," accusing the 58-year-old of denying "the mass rapes of 10/7" and of calling Hamas a "charitable organization."
In response, Cusack accused the organization of "weaponizing racism against peace activists."
Voight split with Jolie's mother, actress Marcheline Bertrand, when the Tomb Raider star was two years old. Bertrand raised Jolie and her brother, actor James Haven, as a single mother, although Voight provided financial support, and he and Jolie remained in contact.
Jolie and Voight reportedly became estranged in the early 2000s.
'We don't really speak that much anymore," Jolie told Vogue in 2002.
After she filed for divorce from Brad Pitt in 2016, Voight told E! News that Jolie was "OK," suggesting the father-daughter duo had reconnected.
The Runaway Train actor was also spotted at dinner with Jolie and four of her six children in May 2017. She shares Maddox, 22, Pax, 20, Zahara, 19, Shiloh, 18, and twins Vivienne and Knox, 15, with Pitt.
For a number of years, prior to Voight's recent criticism of Jolie, their relationship appeared to be stable.
In June, Voight praised Jolie and her daughter Vivienne after Jolie's Broadway production of The Outsiders, which Vivienne co-produced, won four Tony Awards.
'I'm sure Angie contributed with the actors, and Angie's a great director,' Voight told TMZ.
"[I'm] very proud of Vivienne and very proud of Angie because she really tries to encourage each of the kids to be what they want to be."
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