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We normally think of Gwyneth Paltrow sharing weird “wellness” content and the occasional shady post.
But she’s under a lot of fire after starring in a commercial for Israeli real estate.
The luxury condos that go for $10 million a pop are only about 50 miles from Gaza, much of which has been turned into a rubble-strewn graveyard by the IDF.
Paltrow is getting put on blast for the “greed and depravity” of this venture. Will she even care about the backlash?
51 Park is a long way from home
Recently, Paltrow appeared in a bizarre advertisement for 51 Park.
She’s advertising for lavish $10 million penthouses in a pair of 51-story luxury skyscrapers in Herzliya, developed by Aviv Melisron.
(Herzliya is a small city in occupied Palestine named after Theodore Herzl, whom some have described as the founder of modern Zionism.)
In the ad — which is in English and was filmed primarily in New York, Paltrow goes for a morning jog and then asks her driver to head to “Herzliya, Israel.”
That’s a little far for a car to travel, being on another continent. But the bizarre premise for the ad is barely a footnote when it comes to the backlash.
The backlash against Paltrow has been vocal across social media.
Many are bringing up a recent Goop podcast video in which she admitted that her husband, Brad Falchuk, views her as a conservative.
She identifies as a centrist and says that she doesn’t “feel anything” right now, a remark full of astounding privilege but also a hefty dose of her trademark cluelessness.
Paltrow has worked with Israeli projects before.
In 2024, she teamed up with Noa Tishby — a former sometimes-actress who showed up to ruin episodes of some great Vancouver-filmed shows about 20 years ago — who is now a notorious and seemingly full-time Zionist influencer.
Who is the target audience of this ad?
People might have a negative response even if she were advertising $10 million condos in Glasgow.
This is a time of extreme economic pressure, particularly given the Trump regime’s work to increase inflation.
However, advertising land that was stolen in living memory to form the apartheid state of Israel is on another level.
Then, after the IDF began the wholesale slaughter of entire families, carrying out the ethnic cleansing of Gaza.
Israel is now on the UN’s list of countries that use rape as a weapon of war. Convinced that they can continue with impunity, they have also directed their unending aggression towards neighboring countries, bombing Lebanon and Iran with apparent expansionist aims.
Something that political and pop culture podcaster Matt Bernstein pointed out that we’d like to echo is that this commercial indicates its true purpose.
It’s filmed in the US. Paltrow speaks English in it. And it cast a famous US actress and Goop-pusher.
This is not a commercial intended to convince Israelis to move to 51 Park.
Rather, this appears to be an advertisement to convince wealthy American Zionists to move to Israel, and live in luxury in a nation that’s waging forever wars against its neighbors.
Israel has lost a lot of public support in recent years, now that more of the world — especially within the US — see the country for what it is.
This isn’t going to do any wonders for Paltrow’s public image. But then, will she even notice?
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