(Paris) “Free Palestine! » or “I am on the side of Israel”: on Instagram, Hollywood celebrities have been taking a stand since the start of the war, at the risk of their brand image, scrutinized by millions of angry users.
Israeli actress Gal Gadot – known for her role as Wonder Woman – posted her unwavering support for her country on Instagram on October 7, the day Hamas commandos massacred 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in Israel, and took some 240 others held hostage, taking them to the Gaza Strip.
“I stand with Israel, you should too,” she told her 109 million followers. The actress has since regularly published or shared content demanding the return of Israeli civilians detained by Hamas, attracting the approval of some and the wrath of others.
“I am extremely disappointed with your position in favor of the genocide of the Palestinian people,” reacted one user, among hundreds of similar criticisms.
In retaliation for the Hamas attack, Israel shelled Palestinian territory and launched a ground offensive on October 27, which resumed Friday after a week-long truce. According to the Hamas government, nearly 16,000 people, 70 percent of them women and children, died in Israeli strikes.
The Instagram account of American model of Palestinian origin Gigi Hadid (79 million subscribers) has taken on a less “fashionable” tone in recent weeks, mentioning in particular “the systemic mistreatment of the Palestinian people by the government of Israel”.
“Just accept that your family is on the wrong side of humanity,” one pro-Israeli user responded, among many reactions.
The latter are strong on Instagram, where the visibility of publications is reinforced by the “reputation” of their issuer and by their “affective intensity”, observes Camille Alloing, professor of communication at the University of Quebec in Montreal.
Stars, who are very well known and who arouse strong feelings of support or repulsion, are formidable catalysts for emotions. Especially if they speak on divisive subjects.
Long before the advent of social networks, the boxer Mohamed Ali, the actress Jane Fonda and the singer Bob Dylan were as much adored as they were reviled for their opposition to the Vietnam War.
More recently, Ben Stiller, Angelina Jolie and Sean Penn showed their support for Ukraine by going there… supported by the overwhelming majority of their Western fans, where Kyiv is almost unanimous.
But the Israeli-Palestinian conflict polarizes more than any other. Which sometimes exposes stars to painful flashbacks.
Kim Kardashian’s half-sister, Kylie Jenner, shared with her 398 million Instagram followers a message from a pro-Israeli group shortly after October 7… which she withdrew an hour of invective later , according to American media.
Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon lost the support of the talent agency that represented her in November, according to the specialized press, for controversial remarks made during a pro-Palestinian demonstration, for which she then apologized on Instagram.
Actress Melissa Barrera, headliner of the fifth and sixth parts of the film Scream, will not participate in the seventh opus, by decision of the production house, which cites its “zero tolerance on anti-Semitism and incitement to hate “.
The starlet denounced “ethnic cleansing” in Gaza on the social network.
Celebrities who take a stand in this divisive conflict have “a lot to risk and little to gain,” believes Nicolas Vanderbiest, founder of the communications firm Saper Vedere in Brussels.
Tom Cruise would have come to the aid of his agent, allowing her to keep her job, after she denounced a “genocide in progress” on Instagram, according to the specialized press.
Because producers or sponsors have little taste for the interference of geopolitics in their affairs, says Mr. Vanderbiest. And two “extremely structured” communities are on the prowl, with “a pack effect” to fear, he says.
Stars, to gain peace of mind, can therefore choose to remain silent. But, in the Israeli-Palestinian context where “there is an injunction to express oneself”, this does not exempt them from being criticized, notes Jamil Jean-Marc Dakhlia, professor at the Parisian University Sorbonne-Nouvelle.
“Even silences are considered confessions,” adds this information and communication specialist. We are in a very dichotomous logic where we have to take a position and in a way that is not necessarily nuanced. »
American actress and singer Selena Gomez, with 430 million subscribers on Instagram, was criticized for her silence on the subject.
Like hundreds of people, including singer Jennifer Lopez, actor Joaquin Phoenix and Gigi Hadid, she therefore chose the middle path: signing the “artists for a ceasefire now” petition at the end of October.
Hundreds of celebrities, including Gal Gadot, had previously called in an open letter for “the release of all Hamas hostages.” Few have signed both texts.
