Protesters Call On Steven Spielberg To Reject Moma Leon Black Honor
A letter from the feminist campaign group We Are UltraViolet, reviewed by Hyperallergic, implored the Academy Award-winning director to boycott MoMA until the museum severs ties with Black and renames the film venue. Elisa Bautista, UltraViolet's campaign director, authored the missive, stating,“MoMA has benefited so handsomely from Black that they have named the very room you will be honored in, the Debra and Leon Black Family Film Center, in his honor.” Bautista added,“Mr. Spielberg, you do NOT want your legacy connected to accused abuser and Epstein associate Leon Black.”
The letter references three sexual assault and misconduct accusations against the billionaire, which Black denies. One lawsuit was discontinued by the plaintiff, and an earlier one was dismissed by the court. A third lawsuit was permitted to proceed after a judge imposed a sanction. UltraViolet has not received a response from Spielberg's representatives. NYPD officers were present outside MoMA's film center entrance.
Black departed his role as CEO of his private equity firm, Apollo Global Management, in 2021 after reports emerged that he paid Epstein $158 million for financial advice from 2012 to 2017, following Epstein's initial conviction for soliciting sex from a minor. Although he resigned as MoMA board chairman that same year, prompted by an open letter signed by over 150 artists and published by Hyperallergic, Black continues to serve as a MoMA board trustee.
Public scrutiny of Black heightened in September when the US House of Representatives unanimously approved a resolution to hold the MoMA trustee in contempt of Congress for defying subpoenas in an Epstein investigation. This month, Black filed a defamation lawsuit against California Representative Robert Garcia over public statements such as“Leon Black is at the center of Jeffrey Epstein's crimes.”
Playwright and theater artist Gracie Gardner, who initially posted an open letter to Spielberg on Instagram, expressed her amazement at the public response. Gardner told Hyperallergic at the protest,“Steven Spielberg has made his career making stories about the dignity of women and children. It's totally disgusting that he's accepting an award [at the film center named after Leon Black], who's currently in contempt of Congress for not producing NDAs and his involvement in the Epstein files.”
Last month, Gardner co-performed a staged reading of former Barclays CEO and JP Morgan executive Jes Staley's deposition on Epstein to the United States House Oversight Committee in July. Despite heavy rain, approximately 20 protesters gathered outside MoMA with keffiyehs, Palestinian flags, and signs condemning Black's support for pro-Israel organizations.
Other signs at the evening's protest highlighted Black's connections to pro-Israel and Zionist groups. Black has reportedly donated to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which denies Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, and Birthright Israel, accused of serving as propaganda for the Israeli government. Demonstrator Janet Goodman-Clarke told Hyperallergic,“I can personally say I'm Jewish and it's specifically because of my Jewish values that we're here. Never again means never again for anyone. Leon Black not only is a Zionist, but he's also named ad nauseam in the Epstein files.” MoMA has not responded to Hyperallergic's request for comment.
Members of We Are UltraViolet, Time & Memory Project, and the Institute for Primary Facts previously convened outside MoMA on October 6, 2026, for an action against Black. Artists, activists, and Epstein survivors have consistently demonstrated in front of MoMA, demanding his removal. Katie Fuller, arts educator and founder of the Time and Memory Project, participated in this action, having staged a separate protest with her sister in September calling for Black's removal. Last month, Fuller collaborated with Epstein survivors, UltraViolet, and the Epstein-Trump Reading Room, created by the Institute for Primary Facts, to illustrate the scope of Epstein's network. This free, mobile installation depicted a timeline of President Donald Trump's relationship with Epstein and contained thousands of books' worth of the released“Epstein Files,” in which Black was mentioned over 8,500 times. Dancer, educator, and Epstein survivor Dani Bensky, active from 2004 to 2005, also attended that protest.
Weeks after the action, Bensky authored an op-ed for Hyperallergic criticizing Black's board position as“one of the starkest examples of institutional ignorance - a head-in-the-sand, look-the-other-way mentality that will inevitably give abuse of power a dark corner to grow and fester in.” Beyond his MoMA investments, Black has wielded considerable influence in the art world. In William D. Cohan's recently published book, Black revealed plans to convert the Woolworth Mansion into a tax-beneficial art foundation. This foundation is expected to house works from his estimated $5 billion art collection, an asset that Epstein helped leverage as bank collateral.
Gardner conveyed a clear message for attendees of the benefit gala, stating,“If you know, you're human garbage. And if you didn't know, you can't say that after tonight, because we're out here saying hi to everybody with our signs.”
Source: Hyperallergic
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