Dua Lipa Responds To Full-Page NYT Ad Accusing Her Of Antisemitism
Dua Lipa has responded to a full-page ad in the New York Times accusing her of antisemitism for her pro-Palestinian stance. In the ad — placed by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach and the World Values Network — Lipa is called out alongside models Bella and Gigi Hadid, whose brother Anwar is dating Lipa. (The Hadids’ father, real estate developer Mohamed Hadid, is a Palestinian born in Nazareth.) The ad’s headline, addressed to “Bella, Gigi and Dua,” reads, “Hamas calls for a second Holocaust. Condemn them now.” It goes on to equate criticism of Zionists with antisemitism.
Lipa responded with a statement on social media yesterday, calling the ad’s allegations “false and appalling.” Her message concludes, “The World Values Network are shamelessly using my name to advance their ugly campaign with falsehoods and blatant misrepresentation of who I am and what I stand for. I stand in solidarity with all oppressed people and reject all forms of racism.”
Here is Lipa’s message in full:
I utterly reject the false and appalling allegations that were published today in the New York Times advertisement taken out by the World Values Network. This is the price you pay for defending Palestinian human rights against an Israeli government whose actions in Palestine both Human Rights Watch and the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem accuse of persecution and discrimination. I take this stance because I believe that everyone — Jews, Muslims and Christians — have the right to live in peace as equal citizens of a state they choose. The World Values Network are shamelessly using my name to advance their ugly campaign with falsehoods and blatant misrepresentation of who I am and what I stand for. I stand in solidarity with all oppressed people and reject all forms of racism.
This is not the first time Lipa has been involved in geopolitical controversy. Last summer the British-Albanian pop star tweeted in support of Albanian nationalism.