A note before you read
“Why do people hate Gal Gadot?” is a search phrase, not a verdict. Gadot also has a large fan base, and her 2017 Wonder Woman film was a major commercial success.
This article explains why criticism exists. It does not endorse harassment, abuse, or threats against Gadot or anyone else. Where a claim is opinion, it is labelled as opinion. Where an event is verified, the source is given.
Who Gal Gadot is
Gal Gadot was born on April 30, 1985, in Petah Tikva, Israel, and raised in Rosh HaAyin.
At 18, she won Miss Israel 2004. She then competed in the Miss Universe 2004 pageant in Ecuador and did not place.
From age 20, she completed two years of mandatory service in the Israel Defense Forces as a combat fitness instructor.
Her first international film role was Gisele Yashar in Fast & Furious (2009). She returned to the role in Fast Five (2011) and Fast & Furious 6 (2013), and later in the franchise again.
She is married to businessman and producer Jaron Varsano. They married in 2008 and have four daughters: Alma (born 2011), Maya (2017), Daniella (2021), and Ori (2024).
1. The Wonder Woman casting backlash (2013)
Gadot was announced as Wonder Woman in December 2013, for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016).
The reaction was immediate and, in large part, harsh. Much of it focused on her body. Critics online said she was too thin for an Amazon warrior, and some posts focused on her bust size in explicitly sexist terms.
Others questioned her acting experience and her accent, since she was still little known to American audiences.
Gadot answered the body criticism directly. In a 2013 Israeli television interview, she said she represented “the Wonder Woman of the new world” and that she was starting serious training, including martial arts and weapons work, to gain mass for the role.
She later told Robot Underdog that the comments amused her more than they hurt her, calling them “empty talk.”
The film answered the casting doubts commercially. Wonder Woman (2017), directed by Patty Jenkins, earned about $822 million worldwide.
That success did not end the debate. It shifted it: from whether she could play the role to how she played it, and to everything around the role.
2. Acting criticism: a recurring theme
A second, separate strand of criticism is about Gadot’s acting itself.
Some critics and viewers describe her screen presence as limited in range, and say her performances can feel flat outside action roles. Others praise her charm and screen presence in the same films.
Review scores show the split. Rotten Tomatoes critics’ scores for some of her films include about 28% for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, 19% for Keeping Up with the Joneses, and 31% for Heart of Stone (2023).
Those scores are for the films as a whole, not for Gadot alone. They are useful as a measure of critical reception, not as proof that any one actor caused a film to fail.
3. The “Imagine” video (March 2020)
On March 18, 2020, as the United States was entering COVID-19 lockdowns, Gadot posted a celebrity singalong of John Lennon’s “Imagine” to Instagram.
She was joined by stars including Kristen Wiig, Jamie Dornan, Amy Adams, Will Ferrell, Natalie Portman, and Jimmy Fallon. Gadot said she was inspired by a video of an Italian man playing the song from his balcony.
The reaction was swift and mostly negative. Critics called the video tone-deaf and an empty gesture at a moment when many people were losing jobs and fearing illness.
The New York Times critic Jon Caramanica called it “an empty and profoundly awkward gesture.”
Gadot later accepted that the video had missed its mark. In a Vanity Fair interview in October 2020, she said she had acted with good intentions but that it was “just not the right good deed,” and that the message “didn’t transcend.”
In a 2022 InStyle interview, she described the video as having been done in “poor taste,” while maintaining that her intentions were pure.
The video remains the single most cited example in online criticism of Gadot, because it is easy to share and easy to mock, even years later.
4. The Cleopatra casting row (2020)
On October 11, 2020, Gadot announced she would team up with director Patty Jenkins and writer Laeta Kalogridis to play Cleopatra.
The announcement split opinion at once. Critics argued that an Arab or African actress should play the Egyptian queen, and called the casting another case of Hollywood whitewashing.
Supporters pointed to Cleopatra’s family history. Cleopatra was a ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty, descended from Ptolemy I Soter, a general of Alexander the Great. Her father’s side was Macedonian Greek.
Her mother’s identity is not firmly established by historians. Some scholars have suggested her mother may have been Egyptian, which would make Cleopatra of mixed heritage. That uncertainty is exactly why the debate has no simple answer.
Guardian critic Hanna Flint called the casting “a backwards step for Hollywood representation” in October 2020, while also noting that Gadot counted as Middle Eastern and North African representation and was less Western a choice than some earlier names linked to the role.
Gadot defended the casting to BBC Arabic in December 2020. She said: “First of all, if you want to be true to the facts then Cleopatra was Macedonian. We were looking for a Macedonian actress that could fit Cleopatra. She wasn’t there, and I was very passionate about Cleopatra.”
The film had not been released at the time of this rewrite, and no release date was confirmed in the sources checked.
5. Politics, military service, and boycott calls
Gadot’s background and public statements are the most politically charged source of criticism.
She served two years in the Israel Defense Forces, as noted above. During the 2014 Gaza war, she posted on Facebook in support of Israeli soldiers, writing that they were “risking their lives protecting my country against the horrific acts conducted by Hamas.”
In May 2017, Lebanon banned Wonder Woman from cinemas, about two hours before it was due to premiere there. The ban followed a campaign by the Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel-Lebanon, which cited Gadot’s nationality, her army service, and her 2014 post.
Lebanon has a long-standing boycott law covering Israeli products, and the country remains formally at war with Israel. The ban was a decision by Lebanese authorities, not a global verdict on the film.
Similar boycott calls have followed Gadot’s later films, including Snow White. In 2025, reports noted that Snow White was not released in Lebanon and Kuwait, with Gadot’s involvement cited as a factor.
Gadot has also spoken publicly in support of Israel since the October 2023 Hamas attacks, which has drawn both support and further boycott calls online. This article does not take a position on that conflict. It records only that her statements are a documented driver of online criticism.
It is important to separate three things here: verified statements Gadot has made, government bans in specific countries, and online boycott campaigns. They are not the same thing, and one does not prove the others.
6. Snow White (2025) and the Evil Queen
Gadot played the Evil Queen opposite Rachel Zegler in Disney’s live-action Snow White, released in the United States on March 21, 2025.
The film received mixed reviews. Rotten Tomatoes listed about 39% from critics and about 69% from audiences.
Gadot’s performance drew mixed notices. Some critics enjoyed the theatrical villainy; others found the performance too arch or underpowered for the role.
Commercially, the film fell short of its cost. It earned about $205.7 million worldwide against a reported production budget of about $270 million, before marketing costs.
That result had many causes, including the film’s troubled production, its changes to the original story, and controversies around both lead actors. It cannot fairly be blamed on Gadot alone, and Gadot herself later said she was disappointed the film was so affected by political pressure around it.
In August 2025, she told an Israeli television interviewer that she had enjoyed making the film and had expected it to succeed, adding: “You win some, you lose some.”
7. What is opinion, and what is verified?
| Topic | Verified event | Online opinion |
| Wonder Woman casting, 2013 | Gadot was cast in December 2013; body-focused backlash followed | Claims she “could never” play the role — disproved commercially by the 2017 film’s $822 million gross |
| Acting | Mixed critical reception across several films | Claims she “can’t act” — a judgement, not a fact |
| Imagine video, 2020 | Posted March 18, 2020; widely criticised as tone-deaf; Gadot later called it poor taste | Claims it proves she is out of touch in general — an inference, not a proven fact |
| Cleopatra, 2020 | Announced October 2020; whitewashing debate followed; Cleopatra’s mother is historically uncertain | Claims that any one casting choice is “correct” — historians disagree on her heritage |
| Lebanon ban, 2017 | Wonder Woman banned in Lebanon hours before release | Claims the ban reflects world opinion — it was a decision by one country’s authorities |
| Snow White, 2025 | $205.7 million worldwide against a ~$270 million budget; 39% critics’ score | Claims Gadot alone caused the flop — not supported by the evidence |
Frequently asked questions
Do most people hate Gal Gadot?
There is no reliable poll showing that most people hate her. Online criticism is loud and easy to find, but her films have also earned hundreds of millions of dollars, and she retains a large following.
Why was Gal Gadot criticised for Wonder Woman?
Mainly for her build and limited profile in 2013. Critics said she looked too slight for an Amazon warrior. She trained for the role, and the 2017 film’s success weakened that line of criticism.
What was wrong with the Imagine video?
Critics said wealthy celebrities singing “imagine no possessions” during a pandemic came across as tone-deaf. Gadot later said the gesture did not land as intended.
Why is her Cleopatra casting controversial?
Because Cleopatra ruled Egypt but came from a Macedonian Greek dynasty, and her mother’s background is uncertain. Critics wanted an Arab or African actress; supporters cited her Greek heritage.
Was Wonder Woman banned anywhere?
Yes, in Lebanon in 2017, hours before release, after a boycott campaign citing Gadot’s nationality and army service. It was not banned worldwide.
Is Gal Gadot still Wonder Woman?
Gadot has said she expects to continue in the role, but DC’s film plans have changed repeatedly since 2022. No new Wonder Woman film starring Gadot had been confirmed for release at the time of this rewrite, so this article does not state a future film as fact.
The fair summary
Criticism of Gadot is not one thing. It is several different debates layered on top of each other: a casting row from 2013, a viral misstep in 2020, a historical casting argument, a political divide, and mixed reviews for later films.
Some of that criticism is fair comment on public work. Some of it is sexist, abusive, or based on false claims. Telling those apart matters more than picking a side in a comment thread.
