The ceremony for Gal Gadot receiving her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was marred by controversy as anti-Israel protestors showed up and caused a scene.
The incident caused a delay in the ceremony and necessitated a police response. Dozens of protestors crowded the area, holding signs that said “Heros [sic] Fight Like Palestinians”, “Viva Viva Palestina,” and “No Other Land Won Oscar,” per Variety.
A video taken by Variety reporter Katcy Stephan showed protesters chanting, “Shame on Gal Gadot.” There was also a clip showing protestors being handcuffed by law enforcement, plus footage of the protestors shouting, “Up up with liberation, down down with occupation,” and “Not another nickel, not another dime, no more money for Israel’s crime.”
Gadot will star as the Evil Queen in the upcoming Disney live-action remake of “Snow White.” The 39-year-old actress, who is a native Israeli and served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), says she usually keeps quiet about political issues, but felt compelled to speak out following the October 7 massacre which led to the slaughter of 1,220 Israelis at the hands of Hamas.
“I could not be silent,” Gadot said, as The Daily Wire previously reported.
“There is a challenge for people to speak on social media because there is so much hate going on and so many bots and so many angry people that are looking for a cause,” the actress told Variety.
“Who cares about the celebrity talking about politics?” she asked rhetorically. “I’m an artist. I want to entertain people. I want to bring hope and be a beacon of light whenever I say anything about the world.”
“But on October 7, when people were abducted from their homes, from their beds, men, women, children, elderly, Holocaust survivors, were going through the horrors of what happened that day, I could not be silent,” Gadot continued. “I was shocked by the amount of hate, by the amount of how much people think they know when they actually have no idea, and also by how the media is not fair many times. So I had to speak up.”
Per Variety, Gadot did not mention the event during the Walk of Fame ceremony on Tuesday. She gave a speech thanking “Wonder Woman” director Patty Jenkins and “The Fast and the Furious” star Vin Diesel, plus called herself “just a girl from a town in Israel.”
