Yesterday, an interview the actor did on Israeli television made the rounds, in which she claimed that the poor box office performance of Disney’s recent live-action Snow White remake was because of “pressure” to criticize Israel.
In the interview, Gal claimed that despite her belief that Snow White “would be a huge success…what’s happening in all kinds of industries and also in Hollywood, is that there’s a lot of pressure on celebrities to bring up things against Israel,” seemingly suggesting that pressure to speak against Israel contributed to Snow White‘s box office performance.
“You can always explain and try to give people in the world a context about what’s happening [in Israel] and what the reality is here, but in the end people decide for themselves,” she added. “I was disappointed that the movie was greatly affected by that and didn’t do well at the box office.”
Quite the claim, to say the least. Somewhat unsurprisingly, Gal is…well, not quite walking it back, but adding context, as celebs often do when making statements that can be seen by some as highly questionable.
“I was honored to join an extraordinary interview with inspiring interviewers, whose questions go straight to the heart,” she wrote in a statement on her IG Story. “Sometimes we respond to questions from an emotional place. When the film came out, I felt that those who are against Israel criticized me in a very personal, almost visceral way. They saw me first and foremost as an Israeli, not as an actress. That’s the perspective I spoke from when I answered the question.”
“Of course, the film didn’t fail solely because of external pressures. There are many factors that determine why a film succeeds or fails, and success is never guaranteed.”