Bella Hadid Reveals She Was “Dropped” By Companies And Friends For Supporting Palestine
"I had so many companies stop working with me."
In a recent interview on the podcast Rep, Bella Hadid admits she’s lost a lot of modelling work over her public support for Palestine.
Born to Dutch mum Yolanda Hadid and her Palestinian father Mohamed Hadid, Bella Hadid has become more vocal about her Palestinian roots over the past few years. With her becoming more vocal about her fatherland also came outspoken support for Palestinian freedom in Israel’s ongoing occupation of Palestine.
In an interview hosted by Arab-American journalist Noor Tagouri, Hadid shared how being outspoken about her heritage and support for Palestine has affected her. The episode itself is about how public opinion about the occupation of Palestine has politicised Palestinians out of their humanity.
Hadid shares what it was like to grow up as a Palestinian-American. “I had my friend’s parents tell me that my dad was a liar and where he’s been telling me he was from is fake and not true. Growing up with that, you lose who you are, because you don’t know who you are because everyone tells you who you are is not true,” she says.
Hadid has slowly become more vocal about her heritage. She has publically attended many Free Palestine rallies, frequently shares updates on Palestine via Instagram, and was even called out by the official Israel Twitter account. While Hadid’s consistent support of Palestine has contributed to more mainstream awareness of the Palestinian plight, she says it hasn’t been without casualty.
“I really do believe that if I started speaking about Palestine, when I was 20, I wouldn’t have gotten the recognition and the respect that I have now. I had so many companies stop working with me. I had friends that completely dropped me, like even friends the at I had been having dinner with at their home on Friday nights for seven years, like now just won’t let me at their house anymore,” she admitted.
But she still doesn’t regret her support or growing into becoming more vocal about who she is. She told host Noor Tagouri, “I know that this is my truth and I know that regardless which way I say it or how I put it, it’s still going to be my truth”.
A transcript of Bella Hadid’s full interview is available here.