Mia Khalifa has reiterated her criticism of Gal Gadot, amid reports that the actress is helping to organize a U.S. screening of a film showing the October 7 surprise attack on southern Israel by Hamas militants.
Hamas’ surprise attack was the deadliest Palestinian militant attack on Israel in history. Israel subsequently launched its heaviest-ever airstrikes on Gaza. According to Israeli officials, 1,400 people in Israel have been killed as of Tuesday, the Associated Press reported, while over 10,300 Palestinians have been killed, according to officials from the health ministry in Gaza, the AP said.
Throughout the ongoing conflict, Israeli-born Wonder Woman star Gadot has frequently shared social media posts supporting the people of Israel. In particular, she has shone a spotlight on many of the more than 200 hostages taken by Hamas.
Gadot is now making efforts to illuminate the conflict by helping to organize a screening of a 47-minute video provided by an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson, according to i24NEWS, an Israeli-based international news television channel.
Oscar-winning director Guy Nattiv, who reportedly spearheaded efforts to bring the film to the United States—with a screening planned for a group of select celebrities and public figures on an undisclosed date, revealed, “Gal Gadot and her husband, Yaron Varsano, helped make this possible.”
However, specific details concerning the date and the confirmed guest list are not yet known. Newsweek has contacted a representative of Gadot via email for comment.
Amid the reports, Palestinian news agency Quds News Network shared a post on X, formerly Twitter, which stated that Gadot “will organize a screening of a propaganda 47-minute video provided by the Israeli military in #LA and #NY.”
Responding to the post, former adult film actress Khalifa shared a screenshot of a Paper magazine headline from more than two years ago, which read: “Mia Khalifa Dubs Gal Gadot ‘Genocide Barbie’ After Israel-Palestine Statement.”
“I’ve been trying to tell y’all….,” Lebanese-born Khalifa captioned the post.
At the time the article was published, Gadot, who served in the IDF before launching her acting career, condemned the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and said that Israel and its neighbors each deserved to be a “free and safe nation.”
“My heart breaks. My country is at war. I worry for my family, my friends,” she wrote in an Instagram post.
Taking to X, Khalifa reposted news that Wonder Woman 1984 was returning to HBO Max, adding the caption: “We asked for the #SnyderCut, not Genocide Barbie.”
Khalifa has lost at least two business deals after voicing her support for what she described as Palestinian “freedom fighters,” in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attacks.
Following Hamas’ attack on Israel, Khalifa shared a post on X, in which she addressed the footage of the raids on Israel that was coming out of the region.
“Can someone please tell the freedom fighters in Palestine to flip their phones and film horizontal,” she wrote on the platform on October 7, the day Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel.
Following days of criticism, Khalifa, who has long been a vocal supporter of Palestinians, sought to clarify her comment in a follow-up statement on October 9.
“I just want to make it clear that this statement in no way shape or form is [inciting] spread of violence,” she said in a since-deleted post. “I specifically said freedom fighters because that’s what the Palestinian citizens are… fighting for freedom every day.”
Playboy was one of two companies that quickly severed ties with the star; visitors to her page on the brand’s Centerfold platform are now met with a “not found” notification. Playboy announced the end of its relationship with Khalifa in an email to subscribers. It also shared with Newsweek a termination letter sent to Khalifa.
Khalifa’s original message on October 7 also led to her public firing from her role as an adviser at Red Light Holland, which produces and distributes magic mushrooms.
Red Light Holland CEO Todd Shapiro wrote on X: “This is such a horrendous tweet @miakhalifa. Consider yourself fired effective immediately. Simply disgusting. Beyond disgusting. Please evolve and become a better human being.”
A defiant Khalifa responded: “I’d say supporting Palestine has lost me business opportunities, but I’m more angry at myself for not checking whether or not I was entering into business with Zionists. My bad.”
In a separate post, Khalifa said: “I just wanna make sure there’s 4k footage of my people breaking down the walls of the open air prison they’ve been forced out of their homes and into so we have good options for the history books that write about how how they freed themselves from apartheid.”
Radio host and wrestling pundit Peter Rosenberg also criticized Khalifa’s post in a direct message. Khalifa subsequently made their private exchange public on her X account, where she currently has more than 5.7 million followers.
“I stand with all oppressed people, everywhere, until no one is fighting for freedom,” the screenshot showed Khalifa responding. “I’m from Lebanon, I’ve lived through more air [raids] by the IDF than your tiny privileged brain could ever know how to work through.
“[You] know nothing but tall tales of a land that doesn’t belong to you, created by a military that has nothing to do with your peaceful god loving religion. Don’t you ever disrespect me and my experience with what geopolitical war is again you man child.”
While Rosenberg didn’t publicly respond to Khalifa posting their message exchange on the platform, he told Newsweek on October 9 that he found her approach to the matter to be “unhinged and ridiculous.”
“The idea of demanding that people take sides hours after finding out that innocent people had been slaughtered was so counterproductive and hateful,” he said, via email. “I don’t care that she posted our direct message. I didn’t consider her a friend. I was trying to avoid being messy on a day that’s not about myself or Mia Khalifa.”
