Oscar-nominated actor John Malkovich cancelled a planned Tel Aviv stage performance after an Israeli promoter's PR firm published a fake quote in his name expressing "solidarity" with Israeli audiences, words he says he never spoke or approved.
Malkovich, 72, was scheduled to bring his touring comedy "The Music Critic" to Tel Aviv next April. That plan collapsed after The Jerusalem Post ran a press release on Saturday containing a quote attributed directly to the actor. The problem: Malkovich never said it, never approved it, and says nobody asked him before it went to print.
The fabricated quote, retrieved by NBC News through the Wayback Machine internet archive, read: "I am thrilled to return to Israel and look forward to meeting the warm Israeli audience once again, to whom I feel a strong closeness and solidarity. I hope to find you happy and optimistic! Sending you much love."
Malkovich issued a statement to The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday laying out exactly what happened and why he was walking away.
"A local public relations firm hired by the Israeli promoter drafted a quote for the article that was attributed to me, though I never made the statements that were quoted, nor was I consulted before they were printed."
He did not mince words about the consequence.
"The fact that they were printed as direct quotes from me is unacceptable and untenable. For this reason, I have decided I cannot participate in the Tel Aviv performance."
Israeli show producer Alon Yurik issued an apology that appeared in the Jerusalem Post's updated version of the story. He called the fabricated quote "a mistake" caused by "a misunderstanding." AP News reported that Yurik described it as "human error" and said he regretted "that the incident developed to the point of the performance being canceled."
But the Jerusalem Post's handling raised its own questions. After Malkovich complained, the paper removed the original fabricated quote, and replaced it with a second, slightly different version: "I am excited to return to Israel and would be very happy to meet again with the warm Israeli audience, with whom I feel great closeness and identification."
That version was also not Malkovich's words.
Jerusalem Post managing editor Tal Spungin told NBC News by email that the discrepancy between the two versions came down to translation. The quote was first provided to the Post's Hebrew-language sister publication, Walla, in Hebrew, then translated into English for the Post. Spungin said the quote "was removed from our report after the production company confirmed to us that it was fabricated."
What makes the episode notable is not just the fabrication itself but what the fabricated words were designed to communicate. The fake quote positioned Malkovich as expressing political "solidarity" with Israeli audiences, a loaded term in the context of Israel's ongoing conflicts with Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Multiple outlets, including Breitbart, noted that the incident comes amid growing cultural pressure on artists who perform in Israel.
Malkovich went out of his way to reject any political framing, from either direction. His statement drew a clear line between performing in a country and endorsing its government.
"My appearance in any country, even my own, does not constitute approval of said country's policies, nor actions, nor its elected or unelected leaders."
He went further, stating that his performances "would also not condone nor mean that I am in supposed 'solidarity' with any particular political cause, nor with the killing of innocents, nor with any acts of terrorism, nor any other kind of barbarity."
He described himself as "lucky" to have performed "in countries with governments whose values or culture I do not share" and to have traveled to places "whose view of the world may not align with mine." He did not directly criticize Israel.
Malkovich is no stranger to Israel. He attended the Jerusalem Film Festival as an honorary guest in July 2008 and performed his musical theater show "The Infernal Comedy: Confessions of a Serial Killer" in Israel in April 2013. His willingness to appear in the country was already established, which makes the decision to manufacture a quote all the more baffling.
A promoter who already had a willing performer chose to put invented political language in that performer's mouth, then published it as a direct quote in a major newspaper. The result was predictable. Instead of a sold show next April, the promoter has a cancelled performance and a public apology on record.
Several questions remain unanswered. The name of the local PR firm that drafted the fabricated quote has not been disclosed. The identity of the Israeli promoter who hired the firm, distinct from producer Yurik, has not been made public. And it remains unclear whether the quote first appeared in Walla's Hebrew edition before reaching the Jerusalem Post in English, or who specifically provided it to Walla.
Malkovich's representatives had not responded to NBC News's request for additional comment as of the article's publication.
Whatever the politics of performing in Israel, one principle ought to be simple enough for any promoter, PR firm, or newspaper to follow: do not put words in someone's mouth and print them as a direct quote. That Malkovich had to cancel a show to enforce that standard says more about the people around him than about the actor himself.
