Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot kicked up an almighty stink on Wednesday when she tweeted a message declaring that “Israel deserves to live as a free and safe nation” while offering thoughts and prayers. Now, as high explosive bombs continue to rain down on homes in Gaza and a wave of anti-Arab mob violence sweeps Israel, she’s reportedly decided to stay quiet for the foreseeable future.
Her tweet saw her pilloried as an apologist for genocide and as tacitly supporting the Israeli system of apartheid and so, faced with a barrage of negative attention from around the world, Gadot disabled comments on the post and hasn’t tweeted since. We might not hear from her for a while, either, because insider Daniel Richtman is reporting that she’s trying to keep a low profile, which is understandable.
Whether that’s a decision she’s made herself or one imposed on her by a (no doubt unhappy) agent/publicist remains unknown, though with the situation growing ever more desperate for the Palestinian people and Arabs in Israel, we really don’t need platitudes from a former IDF soldier.
On the other hand, musicians and actors sharing messages of support for Palestine have also attracted a lot of controversy. A viral post obliquely threatened The Weeknd, Cara Delevingne, Halsey, Susan Sarandon, Mark Ruffalo, Trevor Noah and Zayn Malik (among others) by saying “we keep the receipts” – implying that anyone standing up against injustice could face career damage.
I don’t think Gal Gadot will see any long-term consequences from this, but after her notoriously awful cover of John Lennon’s “Imagine” and this poorly judged tweet, she may think twice before posting anything remotely controversial again. But hey, you can’t ever underestimate the stupidity and ego of Hollywood A-listers.
