'Wonka' Faces Boycott Calls Over Timothée Chalamet

Social media users are criticizing Timothée Chalamet and calling on audiences to boycott his latest film Wonka, which will be released on December 15.

The movie focuses on a young Willy Wonka—a fictional character first appearing in Roald Dahl's 1964 children's novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory—and how he came to meet the Oompa-Loompas on one of his earliest adventures.

The boycott call is due to Chalamet's November 12 appearance on Saturday Night Live (SNL) where he participated in a skit that was accused of making light of the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

On October 7, Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel. Hamas said the attack was retribution for worsening conditions for Palestinians under Israeli occupation.

Israel launched hundreds of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, followed by extensive ground operations. At least 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, with over 200 people taken hostage, while more than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed, with many more injured and over 1.5 million internally displaced in Gaza, according to the Associated Press.

In the pre-taped SNL skit, the three members of the comedy group Please Don't Destroy try to convince Chalamet, playing an aspiring musician, not to jump to his death. They promise to support him on social media, until they learn that his band is called "Hamas," pronounced "Hay-mus."

"Dude, I'm not sharing a song by Hamas on Instagram!" one of them shouts at Chalamet.

This joke drew criticism from pro-Palestinian accounts on social media, with many labeling the actor a "Zionist"—and now boycott calls are growing on X, formerly Twitter.

Newsweek reached out to a representative for Chalamet for comment via email Thursday.

"I love Willy Wonka but Timothée was being dirty and inconsiderate for mocking genocide that currently happens in Gaza. Boycott!!!" one person wrote.

"I hope you lot boycott tf [the f***] out of Timothée Chalamet's Wonka movie btw [by the way]. Him participating in that SNL skit when Roald Dahl himself was pro-Palestine," said another.

"Reminder to 🏴‍☠️ and boycott the new Wonka movie which stars that zionist a****** and watch the OG [original] Willy Wonka movie cause it's far superior lol [laugh out loud]," commented a third.

A fourth added: "I think ppl should Boycott Wonka if I'm being honest."

It isn't just the Wonka movie that people want the public to avoid. There have also been boycott calls for the sci-fi film Dune: Part Two, which is to be released in 2024. The movie stars Chalamet alongside Zendaya, Austin Butler and Florence Pugh.

The Dune movie franchise is based on the 1965 science fiction novel of the same name by American author Frank Herbert, originally published as two separate serials in Analog magazine. Herbert often acknowledged the influence Islam and Middle Eastern culture had on his work.

"Btw [by the way] do not go watch Dune: Part Two lol [laugh out loud]. If Timothée is going to act in a movie largely inspired by Islamic texts and Arabic culture then he can at least have the decency to not make jokes about Palestinian suffering," one person wrote on X.

Another said about his SNL appearance: "This was really crass. And he said yes to this? Willy Wonka and Dune 2 boycott effective immediately."