Mia Khalifa sides with Bella Hadid after allegedly losing contract over pro-Palestine stance
Former adult star Mia Khalifa has extended support to Bella Hadid after rumours suggest that the model lost a contract with a luxury fashion house due to her support for Palestine.
Taking to Twitter, Mia called out Dior for allegedly cutting ties with Bella over her support for Palestine.
“If Bella Hadid lost a Dior contract for supporting Palestine and standing against apartheid, then Dior can go burn in Marshall’s,” she tweeted.
Bella has been at the forefront of the matter as she took part in a pro-Palestine protest in New York where she shouted slogans, wore the Keffiyeh and proudly gripped the Palestinian flag.
She has also been posting on Instagram for the cause but as of recently a shift in her overall attitude towards the situation has been noticed.
In a since-deleted Instagram Story she had taken a neutral stance as she wants “peace, co-existence and equality”.
The post, which was accompanied with the Israeli and Palestinian flag, comes as a stark contrast to her other Instagram posts one of which read: “It’s free Palestine till Palestine is free!”
Following her protest the state of Israel’s Twitter handle called out the model for supposedly taking an anti-semitic stance.
Since then, she has expressed neutrality and remained mum. Many are now speculating if her neutral stance and overall silence has to do with her losing out on a contract with Dior worth millions.
Take a look:
People believe there’s something sinister behind Bella Hadid’s sudden ‘neutrality’ on Palestine
Model Bella Hadid appeared at the forefront of the tiny Hollywood fraternity vocal against the atrocities sanctioned by the Israeli state on the Palestinian people. She participated in a pro-Palestine protest in NYC — shouting slogans, Keffiyeh on her head, flag in her grip — and has been furiously posting about the human rights violations on social media. But a noticeable shift in her position has left fans stunned.
She posted a now deleted Instagram Story and tweet where she called for “peace, co-existence and equality”, with accompanying flags of the two states, Israel and Palestine.
This post is nothing out of the ordinary for ordinary Hollywood A-Listers who have been on the fence about calling Israel out, but Hadid is no ordinary A-Lister. She’s half Palestinian and has been vocal about the Israeli occupation of Palestine for years.
Her wishy washy post came three days after the Israeli state’s barely-not-a-parody official account on Twitter had called her out for her initial support. Hadid attended a protest in NYC where she and others present chanted “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, something residents of Israel (or at least the government of Israel’s Twitter account) believes to be anti-semitic. The tweet prompted further criticism of her from Israeli supporters.
Though Hadid has since deleted her “neutral” post, the post featuring her at the protest remain up on her Instagram account. “It’s free Palestine till Palestine is free!” she had said.
The sentiments she shared previously are noticeably disconnected with her latest post.
So, what’s really happening here?
Some social media users are speculating it has to do with Dior.
Hadid has been a long-term partner of Dior, appearing in multiple campaigns as the face of the brand and becoming one of its most recognisable brand ambassadors. After her support for Palestine made headlines and social media feeds, pro-Israel comments flooded Dior’s comment sections on Instagram. People began calling for a boycott of the brand for its perceived ‘anti-semitism’.
People believe this is reflective of some of the pressure Hadid might be under. Though a lot of people also rushed to the account to pledge their loyalty to the brand and supporting its choice of model.
We’re not saying her Dior deal is the reason for her neutral post but it’s indicative of the cost of supporting Palestine in the West. As we’re learning on Instagram and Twitter, Israeli supporters are deeply embedded in the world’s business elite and living in Pakistan, we are rather disconnected from what’s at stake for supporting Palestine in the West.
We’re not justifying Hadid’s sudden switch in stance (or maybe not since she deleted her posts), nor do we claim to know what happened. But people are suspicious about why one of Palestine’s most outspoken celebrity advocates suddenly changed her tune.
Others were done with celebrity activism.
This is definitely not the last we’re hearing of the matter. The Hadids are very outspoken about the situation in Palestine and we expect there will be more posts soon.
Bella Hadid’s fans are mad at Dior due to an unverified rumor
Supermodel Bella Hadid has been outspoken in her support of Palestine, attending a Free Palestine protest this week and attracting direct criticism from the state of Israel.
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Now, Hadid’s fans are worried that her career will suffer as a result. They’re particularly concerned about Dior allegedly “terminating her contract,” inspiring a slew of furious viral tweets. However, this backlash is entirely based on unverified rumors. There’s no evidence that Dior has ended its relationship with Hadid, who often models for the brand.
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If Bella Hadid lost a Dior contract for supporting Palestine and standing against apartheid, then Dior can go burn in Marshall’s. — Mia K. (@miakhalifa) May 19, 2021
bella hadid was banned from dior.
dior is the one who need her lol — lolemir🇵🇸 (@eizzmag) May 20, 2021
https://twitter.com/Syaifaa_moon/status/1395244937222844418
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Hadid’s fans are keen to show their support for the model, who is of Palestinian and Dutch descent. But the anger at Dior seems to be unfounded.
The Dior rumor emerged on Wednesday, beginning on TikTok before gaining traction on Twitter. One tweet with 39,000 retweets states that Hadid is “being silenced, got her brand deals taken away from her including her dior brand and her family’s address is being exposed,” citing an unverified TikTok video saying Hadid was “banned from Dior.” Meanwhile, others are sharing an out-of-context video of a Bella Hadid poster being taken down in a Michael Kors store, taking this as evidence that Hadid was “fired” by this brand as well.
In reality, the Michael Kors homepage literally opens with a full-page commercial featuring Hadid. She’s the face of the label’s summer ad campaign. However, people are still replying to the Michael Kors Twitter account to accuse the brand of supporting Israeli attacks on Palestine.
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As with a lot of viral rumors on social media, the Dior/Hadid backlash feels plausible without actually being based in fact.