Social media users are sharing a baseless claim that Dior has dropped Bella Hadid due to the supermodel鈥檚 recent comments on . Here are the facts:
CLAIM: Dior has ended its partnership with Bella Hadid because she posted a message of support for Palestinians, and the brand replaced her in a new ad campaign with Israeli model May Tager.
AP鈥橲 ASSESSMENT: False. Hadid鈥檚 contract with the luxury fashion house ended in March 2022, long before the latest conflict, a person close to the matter told The Associated Press. And while Tager is one of several models appearing in Dior鈥檚 2023 holiday campaign, she was also in the 2022 version 鈥� and both ads more prominently featured actor Anya Taylor-Joy.
THE FACTS: Hadid, whose father is Palestinian, has made public remarks criticizing the Israeli government and supporting Palestinians in the years since she was named a brand ambassador for Dior鈥檚 makeup in 2016.
After the latest conflict between Israel and Hamas broke out, she , lamenting the loss of innocent lives while calling on followers to pressure their leaders to protect civilians in Gaza.
When Dior released its new holiday campaign in the following days 鈥� with 鈥� social media users tried to link the two together, suggesting without evidence that Hadid had been unceremoniously axed from the promotion due to her statement.
鈥淒ior has REPLACED Bella Hadid with an ISRAELI model in their latest campaign. This comes after Bella Hadid came out in support of Palestine,鈥� said one post with more than 11,000 likes on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. A hashtag calling to boycott the brand also circulated on the site.
But Hadid鈥檚 contract with Dior ended more than a year ago, in March 2022, and was not extended, according to a person close to the matter who is known to the AP but insisted on anonymity. The person is not authorized to be publicly named discussing contractual matters.
The person would not provide a reason for Hadid鈥檚 departure, saying only that it was a commercial decision. She was replaced by various models for her roles with Dior, none of whom are Tager, the person said.
The claim that Hadid was suddenly dropped for Tager in the holiday campaign also just doesn鈥檛 stand up to scrutiny.
Rather than suddenly being brought in to replace Hadid, Tager in Dior鈥檚 2022 holiday marketing. She was one of several models in both campaigns, and they both centered around Taylor-Joy, who has been a global for Dior since 2021.
A similar claim about Dior dumping Hadid over her pro-Palestinian comments circulated online in March 2021 鈥� yet months later, Dior鈥檚 makeup for an event at the Cannes Film Festival.
Last month, social media users also shared a video that replaced old footage of Hadid with fabricated audio, making it sound like she was apologizing for her remarks about Palestinians.
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Associated Press writer Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report.
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This is part of AP鈥檚 effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. .
Karena Phan, The Associated Press
