Sorkin Dumps Agency After Agent's 'Wrong' Posts on Israel

As some people are being fired for their social media posts regarding the Israel-Hamas war, others are making their own moves. Among them: West Wing creator and writer Aaron Sorkin, who's dropped CAA as his agency and moved back to WME after his agent, Maha Dakhil, put up a post critical of Israel, reports Variety. The Oct. 18 post, a retweet from an account that features the hashtag #FreePalestine, addressed Israel's response in Gaza after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel. "You're currently learning who supports genocide," read the caption accompanying the post's photo.

Dakhil added her own comment, which read: "That's the line for me." In a follow-up post, since deleted like the first, she wrote, "What's more heartbreaking than witnessing genocide? Witnessing the denial that genocide is happening." Sorkin, who defected from WME in 2017 to come to CAA, announced his return to the former just a week after Dakhil's posts. "Maha isn't an antisemite, she's just wrong," Sorkin said in a statement regarding Dakhil, who counts Natalie Portman, Tom Cruise, and Reese Witherspoon among her clients, per Deadline. "She's a great agent and I'm very proud of the work we did together over the last six years." However, "I'm excited to be returning to WME."

The Hollywood Reporter notes that CAA was one of multiple Hollywood companies that released statements slamming Hamas, saying on Oct. 10 that it "stands with the people of Israel, the Jewish community, and all innocent victims in the face of terrorism." Dakhil, for her part, stepped down over the weekend from her leadership role at CAA and resigned from the agency's internal board. She's also offering up an apology for her recent online content, which she says was a "mistake" that "used hurtful language." "Like so many of us, I have been reeling with heartbreak," she said. "I pride myself on being on the side of humanity and peace." She also noted that some of her Jewish friends and colleagues helped her realize "the pain I have caused." (More Aaron Sorkin stories.)