It’s been nearly two years since Gal Gadot received backlash for her star-studded cover of John Lennon‘s “Imagine” when COVID-19 first began to spread. The Wonder Woman star is now reflecting on the poorly received video, and has a different opinion on it.
In a new interview for InStyle‘s February issue, Gadot discussed the criticism for the 2020 cover, which featured appearances by Amy Adams, Zoë Kravitz, Natalie Portman, Mark Ruffalo and a number of other celebrities.
“The pandemic was in Europe and Israel before it came here [to the U.S.] in the same way,” she said. “I was seeing where everything was headed. But [the video] was premature. It wasn’t the right timing, and it wasn’t the right thing. It was in poor taste.”
While the video was meant to provide comfort and a sense of unity as the world went into lockdown, critics on social media thought the stars could have donated to COVID-19 organizations or to those suffering from the effects of the pandemic instead.
It’s not the first time the Israeli actress referenced the video. At Elle’s 2021 Women in Hollywood gala in October, Gadot jokingly sang a few bars of “Imagine” upon taking the stage, which was met with laughter the audience.
“It just felt right, and I don’t take myself too seriously,” she said of the appearance. “All pure intentions, but sometimes you don’t hit the bull’s-eye, right? I felt like I wanted to take the air out of it, so that [event] was a delightful opportunity to do that.”
