Hollywood Star Handcuffed Outside UN

Dontrelle Inman and Christian Jones at a pro-Palestinian protest with flags waving — Photo: Syndi Pilar / Shutterstock

New York police handcuffed actresses Susan Sarandon and Hannah Einbinder outside the United Nations on September 24, 2026, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the General Assembly.

Quick Take

Sarandon, 79, and Einbinder, 31, were detained during a protest that blocked First Avenue near UN headquarters just before Netanyahu’s speech.
Footage shows NYPD officers cuffing both actresses as part of a much larger sweep of demonstrators.
Estimates of the total number detained range from about 30 to roughly 100 people, including several New York elected officials.
The protest, organized by Jewish Voice for Peace, carried signs reading “Stop Arming Israel” and “End the Genocide.”

What Happened Outside the United Nations

Demonstrators gathered near UN headquarters on First Avenue as Netanyahu prepared to speak to the General Assembly. Video captured by news outlets shows officers moving through the crowd and cuffing people who refused to clear the street. Agence France-Presse footage shows officers cuffing Sarandon directly, while photos published by outlets show both her and Einbinder in handcuffs before being led away.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported the two actresses were among “more than two dozen protesters detained” as Netanyahu delivered his address inside the building. Other outlets put the number much higher. The South China Morning Post reported close to 100 people taken into custody during the demonstration, showing how estimates varied depending on which point in the protest reporters were counting.

A Protest With A Clear Message And A Long List Of Names

Jewish Voice for Peace organized the demonstration, and banners carried by the crowd left little doubt about the goal. Signs read “Stop Arming Israel” and “End the Genocide,” tying the action directly to the war in Gaza and to Netanyahu’s presence at the United Nations that day. The event drew far more than two well-known actresses into police custody.

Named detainees included City Council member Chi Ossé and congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier, along with activist Chelsea Manning and civil rights organizer Linda Sarsour, according to reporting that tracked the crowd throughout the afternoon. Their presence turned what might have been a routine street protest into a story with political weight far beyond Hollywood.

Einbinder Speaks Out After Her Release

Einbinder, known for her role on the HBO comedy “Hacks,” did not stay quiet after being released. She issued a statement calling Netanyahu the “butcher of Gaza,” a phrase that quickly spread across entertainment and political coverage of the arrest. Her comments turned a brief moment of celebrity news into a pointed political statement aimed squarely at Israel’s prime minister and his government’s handling of the war.

Actresses Hannah Einbinder and Susan Sarandon were among dozens arrested during a pro-Palestinian protest near the United Nations as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the General Assembly.

The rally, led by Jewish Voice for Peace, blocked a street near U.N.… pic.twitter.com/NdujuScAQu

— CBS News (@CBSNews) September 25, 2026

Sarandon has a long history of protest arrests stretching back decades, including a 1999 demonstration in the Bronx over the police shooting of Amadou Diallo. That track record makes her detention outside the United Nations less of a surprise and more of a continuation of a pattern longtime observers of her activism already expected.

Why The Numbers And Terms Keep Shifting

Coverage of the event has not settled on a single word for what happened. Some outlets call it an arrest, others call it a detention, and Variety noted directly that it remained unclear which term applied to Sarandon and Einbinder specifically. That kind of inconsistency is common in mass protest policing, where officers process large groups quickly and formal charging decisions often come later, if at all.

The varying head counts tell a similar story. Reuters-based reporting cited at least 30 arrests, while other accounts pushed the figure toward 100, reflecting the difference between an initial sweep and the full scope of the afternoon’s police activity. What remains consistent across every account is the basic sequence: a large, organized protest against Netanyahu’s visit, a police response that swept up ordinary demonstrators alongside recognizable public figures, and two Hollywood names now attached to a debate over Gaza policy that shows no sign of cooling down.