Annie Lennox, Graham Nash and Jackson Browne are among the artists who’ve signed an open letter published in the Los Angeles Times that uses the Oscar-nominated film Oppenheimer to remind the public that nuclear weapons are not a thing of the past.
“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 even more powerful weapons,” reads the letter, which is also posted to the website makenukeshistory.org. “Oppenheimer was right to warn us.”
They add, “As artists and advocates, we want to raise our voices to remind people that while Oppenheimer is history, nuclear weapons are not.”
The letter was published as Oppenheimer is in the running for 13 Oscars on Sunday, March 10. It’s part of a campaign started by the nonprofit Nuclear Threat Initiative, which is “focused on reducing nuclear and biological threats imperiling humanity.”
Other artists signing the letter include Jane Fonda, Emma Thompson, Lily Tomlin, Michael Douglas, Julianne Moore and Viggo Mortensen, as well as Oppenheimer’s own grandson, Charles Oppenheimer.
The letter concludes, “To protect our families, our communities, and our world, we must demand that global leaders work to make nuclear weapons history—and build a brighter future. Please join us—before our luck runs out.”
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