EXCLUSIVE: Leo Pearlman, the co-CEO of LeBron James-backed Fulwell Entertainment, has deleted a social media post in which he argued that a prominent Al Jazeera journalist killed in an Israeli strike this month was a terrorist “mouthpiece.”
In a post on LinkedIn, where Pearlman has frequently shared views on the Gaza conflict since the atrocities in Israel on October 7, the British producer argued that Anas Al-Sharif was a “Hamas operative” rather than a journalist. He was also heavily critical of Al Jazeera, describing the news network’s Arabic wing as a “propaganda arm of Hamas” and a “weaponised platform pushing Qatar’s Islamist agenda.”
Deadline contacted Pearlman to ask why his LinkedIn missive was removed within hours of being published on Wednesday. He is yet to respond to the request for comment.
Pearlman’s comments closely align with Israel’s position on Al-Sharif, who was killed in a targeted strike near Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital on August 10, along with three other Al Jazeera journalists. The Israel Defense Forces alleged that Al-Sharif “served as the head of a terrorist cell in Hamas.”
Israel previously published documents it claimed showed “unequivocal proof” of Al-Sharif’s links to Hamas, but the allegations have not been independently verified. BBC News and CNN have reported that Al-Sharif carried out work for a Hamas media team in Gaza before October 7, but the 28-year-old said he had “no political affiliations” as recently as last month. Al-Sharif, who joined Al Jazeera in December 2023, has been critical of the Hamas regime, including its approach to a ceasefire.
Al-Sharif’s death has been denounced by the United Nations Human Rights Office, Reporters Without Borders, the Foreign Press Association, and the Committee to Protect Journalists. “RSF strongly condemns the killing of six media professionals by the Israeli army, once again carried out under the guise of terrorism charges against a journalist,” said Thibaut Bruttin, director-general of Reporters Without Borders, in a statement.
In his LinkedIn post (published in full below), Pearlman said: “The death of Anas Al-Sharif in Gaza last week prompted a chorus of outrage, accusations that Israel targets journalists to ‘silence the truth.’ The truth about Al-Sharif is he was no journalist at all, but a Hamas operative.”
He continued: “Al Jazeera Arabic’s power lies in its costume, the pretence of being a legitimate, independent news outlet. But it was founded as Qatar’s ideological weapon & has delivered on that mission relentlessly. The danger goes beyond propaganda. Terrorists masquerading as journalists disgrace the profession & put real war correspondents in mortal danger. We need to stop indulging the fiction.”
Pearlman’s post was criticized by industry colleagues. One prominent journalist said that the views expressed do not have “any place” in the media industry. “Everyone is a target to him. Everyone is Hamas,” this person added. A second person said: “Smearing all Gaza journalists as militants puts a target on every war reporter’s back.”
Pearlman was a founding partner of Fulwell 73, which produced shows including The Late Late Show With James Corden, The Kardashians, and Friends: The Reunion. Fulwell 73 merged with James’ SpringHill Company last year, ultimately creating Fulwell Entertainment. Pearlman serves as joint CEO of the company alongside Maverick Carter, who ran SpringHill.
Below is the full text of Pearlman’s original LinkedIn post:
Al Jazeera Media Network (Arabic) is not a legitimate news organisation, but the propaganda arm of Hamas, bankrolled by Qatar, staffed not by impartial reporters but by terrorist sympathisers & in some cases, actual terrorists. Al Jazeera Media Network (English) takes much of its information from these same sources, laundering propaganda into the mainstream.
Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan & even the Palestinian Authority have banned them. Why? Because these governments, often at odds with each other, all recognise the same thing: Al Jazeera is not a news network, but a weaponised platform pushing Qatar’s Islamist agenda, promoting the Muslim Brotherhood & the extremist movements it inspires: Hamas, Al Qaeda, ISIS, Islamic Jihad.
The death of Anas Al-Sharif in Gaza last week prompted a chorus of outrage, accusations that Israel targets journalists to “silence the truth.” The truth about Al-Sharif is he was no journalist at all, but a Hamas operative, member of its elite Nukhba Battalion, recruited in 2013, commander of a rocket-launch squad, on the payroll, with a Hamas ID number: 305342. His social media showed pride in the Oct 7th massacre, celebrations of synagogue murders & selfies with Hamas leaders. He wasn’t just a documenter of Jewish murder, but a participant.
And he was far from alone. Last year, three Israeli hostages were rescued from the Gaza home of Abdallah Aljamal, another “journalist”, also a Hamas member, spokesman & regular contributor, writer & editor for Al Jazeera Online. His home was not a newsroom, but a prison. As Middle East scholar Bassam Tawil observed: “no journalist operates in Gaza without Hamas’s approval…Al Jazeera journalism is an oxymoron”.
Yet even knowing this, defenders persist. Ian Williams, president of the Foreign Press Association in New York, argued that even as a Hamas member, Al-Sharif should have been protected because he “also” claimed to be a journalist. This is the absurdity we have reached: fire rockets at civilians, imprison hostages in your house, cheer mass murder, but wear a press vest & suddenly you’re untouchable.
This is the microcosm of the macro-lie. Al Jazeera Arabic’s power lies in its costume, the pretence of being a legitimate, independent news outlet. But it was founded as Qatar’s ideological weapon & has delivered on that mission relentlessly. The danger goes beyond propaganda. Terrorists masquerading as journalists disgrace the profession & put real war correspondents in mortal danger.
We need to stop indulging the fiction. Al Jazeera Arabic is not “biased” media, it is a terrorist mouthpiece, nothing more, nothing less. Treating it as a legitimate news source is not just naïve, it is obscene. Denying that their output is propaganda & amplifying their messaging spits in the face of those murdered on Oct 7th & props up the Hamas terror regime that continues to punish its own people.
The world is being played, & many are willing participants.
