Annie Lennox, Jackson Browne, Barbra Streisand and more sign open letter warning of nuclear threat

UPDATE (March 11): Many more celebrities have signed an open letter to Hollywood about the importance of Christopher Nolan's film Oppenheimer and the real threats of nuclear war. The letter was published in The Los Angeles Times March 7 ahead of the 96th Academy Awards on Sunday (March 10), where Oppenheimer won seven awards, including Best Picture.

The list of celebrities who have added their signatures to the letter includes Barbra Streisand, Ellen Burstyn, Alan Cumming, Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna, Kristen Stewart, Christoph Waltz, Bradley Whitford, Tony Goldwyn, Matthew Modine, Bill Nye, Bobby Shriver and Jerry . and Janet Zucker.

PREVIOUS (March 6): Ahead of the Oscars on Sunday (March 10), a coalition of actors, musicians and activists will issue an open letter to Hollywood about the importance of Christopher Nolan's film Oppenheimer and the real threats of nuclear war.

The coalition includes members of Oppenheimerits cast and crew, as well as bold-faced names such as Annie Lennox, Graham Nash, Jackson Browne, Emma Thompson, Jane Fonda, Julianne Moore, Lily Tomlin, Michael Douglas, Rosanna Arquette and Viggo Mortensen. J. Robert Oppenheimer's grandson, activist Charles Oppenheimer, also joined in this call to action. The letter will be posted on MakeNukesHistory.org Wednesday (March 6) and will be printed in a full-page ad on Thursday Los Angeles Times.

Under the title “An Open Letter to Hollywood on Oppenheimer and nuclear war,” the ad reads in part:

“Oppenheimer depicts the origin story of nuclear weapons, the history of the Manhattan Project, and Robert Oppenheimer's subsequent warnings against an arms race and the development of ever more powerful weapons. Oppenheimer was right to warn us.

“Today, nine countries possess 13,000 nuclear weapons. Some are 80 times more powerful than those that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

“As artists and advocates, we want to raise our voices to remind people that while Oppenheimer is history, nuclear weapons are not.

“In a time of great uncertainty, even one nuclear weapon – on land, under the sea, in the air or in space – is too much. To protect our families, our communities, and our world, we must demand that world leaders work to make nuclear weapons history — and build a brighter future. Join us – before our luck runs out.”

This is part of a multifaceted “Make Nukes History” campaign that begins this week, attracting attention Oppenheimer to raise the debate on the nuclear threat.

This week, billboards, murals and wheat pastes are popping up in Hollywood, drawing attention to the dangers of nuclear weapons. In the coming days, there will be an art installation at the Original Farmers Market near The Grove in Los Angeles. Supported by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., the campaign aims to raise awareness of the dangers posed by today's nuclear arsenals.

The campaign is taking place throughout Los Angeles and includes, in addition to billboards, a mural in West Hollywood and more than 1,000 street posters, proclaiming “Oppenheimer Started It, We Can End It” and “13 Oppenheimer Nominations? 13,000 nuclear weapons”.

For more information about the campaign and to read the open letter, visit MakeNukesHistory.org

Some of those who signed the open letter have been anti-nuclear activists for decades. Nash and Browne were among the organizers of No Nukes/The MUSE Concerts for a Non-Nuclear Future, held in September 1979 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Fonda also attended that event. A triple disc live album of the concerts was released in late 1979 and entered the top 20 of the Billboard 200.

Douglas and Fonda starred in the 1979 thriller The China Syndrome, about a fictional nuclear plant accident. The film, which Douglas produced, was released in theaters on March 16, 1979, 12 days before the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island proved that the film's premise was not far-fetched.