Javier Bardem accused Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu of perpetuating “male toxic behaviour” during a press conference at the Cannes Film Festival.
The Oscar winner, 57, was speaking on Sunday alongside director Rodrigo Sorogoyen for the premiere of The Beloved, a psychological drama where he plays Esteban Martinez, a renowned filmmaker trying to reconnect with his daughter after years of absence.
Asked about recurring themes of absent fathers and damaged masculinity in films screening at this year’s festival, he spoke about violence against women and what he described as “a culture of toxic masculinity”.
“I’m 57 years old, coming from a very machista country called Spain, where there is an average of two women killed monthly by their ex-husbands or ex-boyfriends, which is horrible,” he said, according to Deadline.
“Just that amount of women being murdered, it’s unbelievable. And we kind of normalised it. It’s like, ‘Well, yeah, it’s horrible.’ I mean, are we f***ing nuts? We are killing women because some men think they own them, they possess them.”
He continued by naming the leaders of America, Russia and Israel. “That problem also goes to Mr Trump and Mr Putin and Mr Netanyahu, the big balls man saying, ‘My c*** is bigger than yours and I’m gonna bomb the s*** out of you,’” Bardem claimed.
“It’s a f***ing male toxic behaviour that is creating thousands of dead people, so yeah, we have to talk about it. And I think we are talking about it. We are more aware of it, thankfully, because maybe 20 years ago, this was something that nobody would pay attention as a problem, and I think this movie speaks about that.”
The Spanish actor, among the most vocal celebrities speaking against the Israeli war on Gaza, also admitted to fearing retaliation over his outspoken political views.
“The fear does exist,” he was quoted as saying by Deadline. “Granted that one has to do things, even if you feel a bit scared or afraid. You have to be able to look at yourself in the mirror and look at yourself in the eyes, and that was my case. My mother taught me to be the way I am.”
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At the 2026 Oscars this March, Bardem wore an anti-war patch and a pro-Palestine pin on his suit.
“No to war and free Palestine,” he said, before presenting the award for the best international film.
He suggested to The Independent on the red carpet at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party that people in Hollywood were too “comfortable” to speak out.
“I think it’s comfortable-ness,” he said. “I think they don’t want to feel, themselves, uncomfortable. And that makes me uncomfortable, me and many others.”
“When I said ‘free Palestine’ in the room, in that theatre, the room broke out in a round of applause. So there is support, there is a lot of people supporting it, but it’s not loud enough.”
