Beverly Hills Talent Agency Hosts Star-Studded Oscar Rally To Protest Immigration Ban

BEVERLY HILLS, CA --United Talent Agency, which traditionally holds an annual pre-Academy Awards party, instead held a rally at its Beverly Hills headquarters Friday to express concern over the "anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States."

UTA executives said such sentiment has a "potential chilling effect on the global exchange of ideas and freedom of expression." The agency also donated $250,000 to the American Civil Liberties Union and the International Rescue Committee.

Actress Jodie Foster was among those addressing the crowd at the event, saying it's "our time to resist."

"It's doing the right thing that makes us just," she said. "And it's civil rights -- yours, mine, theirs -- it's all our business. So now I have an idea. Let's get out there. Let's make some noise, throw our arms around our very own community and show the world what we're made of."

One of Hollywood's top talent agencies, UTA represents figures in entertainment and media, across movies, television, digital, news, theater, video games, books, music and live entertainment.

Among UTA's clients is Oscar-winning Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi, who is nominated for an Academy Award this year for best foreign-language film for "The Salesman." Farhadi announced previously he will not travel to the United States for the Oscar ceremony due to "the unjust circumstances" of President Donald Trump's executive order temporarily barring visitors from seven predominantly Muslim countries -- even though that order has since been blocked by a federal appeals court.

Trump has defended the order as a needed step to prevent potential terrorists from entering the country.

"This is a moment that demands our generosity, awareness and restlessness," UTA CEO Jeremy Zimmer wrote in a letter to agency employees announcing the decision to cancel the Oscar party. "Our world is a better place for the free exchange of artists, ideas and creative expression. If our nation ceases to be the place where artists the world over can come to express themselves freely, then we cease, in my opinion, to be America."

The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, will be held Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

-- City News Service, photo credit: Ivan Bandura/Wiki Commons