{
  "id": 19732806,
  "title": "Protesters Urge Steven Spielberg to Boycott MoMA Over Leon Black’s Epstein Ties",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/13/protesters-urge-steven-spielberg-to-boycott-moma-over-leon-blacks",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-11-13T00:01:38.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Hyperallergic",
    "slug": "hyperallergic",
    "url": "https://hyperallergic.com/protesters-urge-steven-spielberg-to-boycott-moma-over-leon-blacks-epstein-ties/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Twenty protesters gathered outside the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) on November 12 to urge Academy Award-winning director Steven Spielberg to withdraw recognition from board member Leon Black at the museum's annual benefit. The feminist group We Are UltraViolet distributed a letter to Spielberg, calling for a boycott until MoMA severs ties with Black and renames the Debra and Leon Black Family Film Center. Black, a former CEO of private equity firm Apollo Global Management, is under scrutiny for his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He paid Epstein $158 million for financial advice from 2012 to 2017, and Black stepped down as MoMA's board chairman in 2021 but remains a trustee. The incident intensified public scrutiny in September when the US House of Representatives voted to hold Black in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with Epstein-related subpoenas. Playwright and theater artist Gracie Gardner, who posted an open letter to Spielberg, expressed disgust at the museum honoring Black.",
  "summary": "Activists rallied at the museum ahead of a benefit for the Debra and Leon Black Family Film Center, decrying the board member’s Epstein connections and his pro-Israel support.",
  "key_points": [
    "Twenty protesters urge Steven Spielberg to boycott MoMA over Leon Black's Epstein ties.",
    "Black paid Epstein $158M for financial advice, stepped down as MoMA's board chairman in 2021."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}