Almost 2 years after her infamous “Imagine” video, Gal Gadot can admit the celebrity sing-along was in poor taste. The world was put on pause in March 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the world and made landfall in the US. From one day to the next, school, work, hobbies, and film and TV production were canceled to prevent the further spread of the virus, leaving millions of people at home with little to do. As the world waited for the virus to let up, Gadot posted a video on Instagram where she, along with a slew of other celebrities including Kristin Wiig, Jimmy Fallon, Natalie Portman, Sarah Silverman, James Marsden, Leslie Odom Jr., Pedro Pascal, Amy Adams, Mark Ruffalo, Will Ferrell and more, sing a cover of John Lennon’s “Imagine.”
The video received a flood of mixed reception, but the criticism quickly turned negative as audiences questioned what was the true nature of the video. Many people on Twitter expressed frustration and annoyance towards the video, suggesting those involved in the video were seeking attention rather than trying to promote the unity suggest by Gadot’s caption. Some observed that the video was a display of unawareness of privilege because while the celebrities in the video were most likely hardly affected by the stay-at-home order, their target audiences were dealing with job loss, housing crises, mental health issues, and so much more. Others saw the stunt as a shallow and ultimately worthless effort to help folks in need during the public health and economic crisis, especially when compared to other celebrity-lead COVID aid attempts.
Now, Gadot tells InStyle that the video "was premature" and "in poor taste." Gadot maintains that the intentions behind the video were pure but that ultimately it missed the mark. Since the video, Gadot seems to have taken the incident in stride, confirming that she sang the song again at the Women in Hollywood awards and calling the whole controversy "funny." Read Gadot’s full comment below.
“And with the whole ‘Imagine’ controversy, it's funny. I was calling Kristen [Wiig] and I was like, ‘Listen, I want to do this thing.’ The pandemic was in Europe and Israel before it came here [to the U.S.] in the same way. I was seeing where everything was headed. But [the video] was premature. It wasn't the right timing, and it wasn't the right thing. It was in poor taste. All pure intentions, but sometimes you don't hit the bull's-eye, right?"
While it’s reassuring that Gadot has admitted that the video was tone-deaf, her comment still defends her decision to make the video. Gadot has previously defended the “Imagine” video as its intentions were to inspire hope and unity while still not openly apologizing for her error. Since the video’s height of public scrutiny in mid-2020, the video hasn’t had lasting effects on those featured within. Gadot has faced most of the controversy as the originator and poster of the video, while other big names like Will Ferrell, Zoe Kravitz, Mark Ruffalo, Pedro Pascal, and Kristin Wiig are nearly divorced of the video altogether.
A more concerning aspect of Gadot’s full comment about the issue being "funny" — even if she meant it as a synonym for "strange" — indicates how little Gadot understands the impact COVID has had on most people. While the "Imagine" video is a quirky bit of internet history, it perpetuates a level of class unawareness that impacts those who watched the video while being nearly inconsequential to those who created it. The film and TV industry is slowly creeping back to normalcy, but most people are still struggling with the day-to-day effects of COVID.
Source: InStyle