Gwyneth Paltrow is used to public criticism, but the backlash over her new Israeli real estate campaign reportedly caught her by surprise.
Last week, an advertisement starring Paltrow was released for 51 Park, a luxury residential project in Herzliya where penthouses are being marketed at starting prices of about $10 million. The campaign quickly triggered anger online, with users and some celebrities criticizing the Oscar-winning actor for participating in an Israeli real estate ad, especially one centered on land and housing.
A source close to Paltrow told Page Six that while she has plenty of experience with public criticism, whether over her film career or her lifestyle brand Goop, this time she was taken aback.
“Gwyneth has showed that she is always willing to take on criticism and work from it. She’s used to taking crap, but she did not expect the fallout from this ad at all," the source said.
Among those who criticized her was Alana Hadid, the half-sister of models Bella and Gigi Hadid, who wrote: "Brutal. Girl. Have you opened a newspaper or watched the news? This is not even tone deaf it's actually complicit af."
Livia Firth, the former wife of actor Colin Firth, also attacked Paltrow, saying the actor had been scheduled to visit her in Italy but that the visit was canceled because "what she did is completely unacceptable,” Firth said.
In a video addressing Paltrow directly, Firth asked: “How detached are you from reality? Either you are so detached that you should be canceled because you live in another world, or you are actually a really, really nasty person, or you are stupid. Which of the three are you, Gwyneth Paltrow?”
In the advertisement, Paltrow is seen waking up in a luxury high-rise apartment, going for a morning run and getting ready for her day while describing the advantages of living near a park.
“There is a reason the world's most iconic buildings are by a park,” Paltrow says in the video, before asking a driver to take her to “51 Park.” “New York?” he asks. “Herzliya,” Paltrow replies with a smile. “Israel.”
Paltrow has not publicly responded to the backlash.