Did Gal Gadot really skip presenting the Oscar for Best Documentary because she hated the winner?

Last night, No Other Land rightly scooped up an Oscar for Best Documentary. The movie is an Israeli/Palestinian collaboration chronicling Israel’s destruction of Masafer Yatta, the Palestinian director Basel Adra’s hometown. The documentary sees Adra befriend Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham, as they seek to tell their story.

The documentary received huge buzz on the festival circuit and – despite there being no plans for a domestic release – has attracted a lot of attention. On picking up the prize, Abraham explained that “we made this film as Palestinians and Israelis because, together, our voices are stronger.”

did Gal Gadot back out of presenting best documentary because of No Other Land LMFAOOOO

— Clarke (@pleasuresystems) March 3, 2025

Given that this is a hot-button topic, many have been left infuriated that a documentary they perceive as critical of Israel won an Oscar. But does that extend to the Oscar presenters? There’s a theory floating around on social media that Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot was supposed to present the Best Documentary award, but pulled out upon realizing she might have to hand an Oscar to a Palestinian movie.

On the night, Gadot (and her Snow White co-star Rachel Zegler) presented the Best Visual Effects award, while Best Documentary was presented by Selena Gomez and Samuel L. Jackson.

no other land winning and gal gadot mysteriously absent from presenting the award like she was supposed to……

— cary (@brokebackstan) March 3, 2025

On a surface level, the theory makes some sense. Gadot is not just Israeli, but in 2004, she was literally crowned “Miss Israel.” She went on to serve in the IDF for two years and apparently considers it “her duty” as a celebrity to speak out in support of Israel. So, would it really be plausible for Gadot to learn the winner of her category and quietly request to present something else? As one commenter put it:

Gal Gadot refusing to present the best documentary Oscar for No Other Land is the perfect embodiment of Israel. They refuse to acknowledge the truth of their genocidal actions & when confronted, run away like the chicken ****s they are.”

The truth

At least as far as the public is told, the Oscar presenters have no idea what’s inside the envelope they’re holding, so if Gadot was to present this category, she wouldn’t know that No Other Land would be the winner. Though this something of a moot point, as it appears Gadot was never confirmed to be presenting the award for Best Documentary in the first place. The story appears to have started as wishful “wouldn’t it be funny if” thinking and, through a game of internet telephone, became reality for many people.

This hasn’t stopped many outlets from reporting the story as fact, with NME claiming that she “switched categories for an unknown reason.” To be fair, we have no insight into the behind-the-scenes machinations at the awards, so it’s not impossible that this is true. But, based on everything else I’ve seen, it appears to be *drum roll* fake news.

As it stands, we don’t even know what Gadot’s reaction was to No Other Land winning an Oscar, as the cameras didn’t pan to her when the award was announced. Maybe she was stone-faced and livid, maybe she was politely applauding – we’ll just have to wait for someone who was actually there to confirm one way or the other.