Gal Gadot will be a presenter at the 97th Academy Awards on Sunday night in Los Angeles, the Hollywood Reporter announced on Wednesday.
Gadot, who has presented awards at previous Oscar ceremonies, will join such A-list presenters as Harrison Ford, Samuel L. Jackson, Halle Berry, Penélope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Ana de Armas, Lily-Rose Depp, Robert Downey Jr., Elle Fanning, Whoopi Goldberg, Selena Gomez, Goldie Hawn, Scarlett Johansson, Cillian Murphy, Oprah Winfrey, and Bowen Yang this year.
Fauda fan Conan O’Brien, who visited Israel in 2017 and spent time on the set of the hit Israeli show, will host the broadcast. The much-watched awards ceremony will kick off with a performance by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, who are both Oscar nominees for their roles in the film, Wicked.
The announcement of Gadot’s participation comes following her appearance at the Golden Globes in January, where she also presented an award.
She drew criticism at home for failing to wear a yellow-ribbon pin at the Globes to symbolize the plight of the hostages still held by Hamas, although she did wear yellow jewelry.
Accusations flew back and forth about whether she was forbidden by the organizers from wearing the pin, but whatever choice she makes on Oscar night, Gadot’s presence will send a clear message that Israelis are still welcome in Hollywood.
Anti-Israel celebrities
Rachel Zegler, her co-star in the upcoming film, Snow White, will also present an award. Zegler’s social media has been filled with pro-Palestine statements and some have speculated that there is discord between the two actresses, but they have been cordial at press appearances.
These days, Hollywood’s A-listers seem to be more focused on the policies of the new US president and the California wildfires than the Middle East, but you can expect a few red Artist4Ceasefire pins on the red carpet – even though there actually is a ceasefire now – and likely no yellow-ribbon pins.
The Brigade, a group created by pro-Israel film industry professionals after October 7, released a statement last week condemning the Artist4Ceasefire pins, saying, “That pin is no symbol of peace. It is the emblem of Jewish bloodshed,” since it was inspired by a photo of the bloody hands of a member of a mob that lynched two soldiers in the West Bank in 2000.
The ceremony will be broadcast live in Israel on Yes Movies Drama with red-carpet coverage starting at 2 a.m. on March 3 and an edited version will be shown on March 4, on the same Yes channel at 9:30 p.m.