Los Angeles, CA – October 13, 2025 – Gal Gadot, the Wonder Woman icon, detonated a cultural bombshell Sunday night with a fiery Instagram Live, declaring, “Money’s vital, but nothing trumps the land of my birth. Twenty million bucks to sell my honor and Israel? Never!” The 40-year-old star confirmed she’s yanking her $50 million Gadot Unity Fund from Saudi-backed partnerships, citing a “vile insult” after leaked texts revealed Riyadh’s Al-Ula Film Commission offered her $20 million to helm a desert epic glorifying Saudi culture while downplaying her Israeli heritage. The move, announced at 11:53 PM ET, has ignited a global firestorm, with #GalStandsTall surging to 30 million X posts.
Insiders say the deal, brokered during secret Dubai talks, collapsed when producers demanded Gadot omit her IDF service from her bio and nix Hebrew dialogue in the script. “They wanted me to erase who I am – my roots, my pride,” Gadot seethed, voice cracking as she vowed to redirect her fund – originally for Middle Eastern women filmmakers – to Israeli and Palestinian refugee arts programs. “This fund’s for dreamers, not sellouts,” she added, citing her Haifa upbringing and 2004 Miss Israel crown. Sources close to Gadot’s team tell Variety the pullout cost her a $5 million personal advance, tanking talks for a Netflix tentpole.
The backlash is seismic. Saudi officials, stung by the snub, branded Gadot “ungrateful” via state media, while Israeli PM Naftali Bennett hailed her as “our lioness.” Hollywood’s split: Spielberg praised her “gutsy integrity,” but pro-Saudi execs whisper of blacklist risks. On X, MAGA trolls slammed her as “woke,” while AOC tweeted, “Gal’s honor > petrodollars.” Data from Social Blade shows Gadot gaining 2 million followers, with her fund’s GoFundMe spiking $10 million in donations overnight.
As midterms loom, Gadot’s stand could sway Jewish-American voters, with polls showing 65% back her defiance. Whispers of a Mossad-linked “psyop” to boost Israel’s image swirl, but Gadot’s camp scoffs: “This is heart, not strategy.” With her next film, a Gaza docudrama, greenlit, the star’s no longer just a hero onscreen – she’s a patriot rewriting the script. Will Hollywood follow, or freeze her out? The world’s watching.
