Gwyneth Paltrow Faces Backlash Over 51 Park Luxury Ad in Herzliya, Israel

Gwyneth Paltrow faced backlash online after starring in a promotional video for 51 Park, a 51-story luxury residential development in Herzliya, Israel, just north of Tel Aviv, with the ad filmed in New York.

“American actress Gwyneth Paltrow has been violently attacked since her participation in a publicity campaign for a luxury real estate project in Herzliya”

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In the commercial, Paltrow says, “Herzliya, Israel,” after being asked “New York?,” and the spot also features her waking up in a New York luxury high-rise apartment and going for a run through Central Park.

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The criticism tied the ad to the ongoing war in Gaza, where Israel has been accused by human rights organisations of committing genocide and is facing a genocide trial at the International Court of Justice, while Israeli leaders deny the allegations and say the campaign is aimed at defeating Hamas.

CNN reported that users flooded Paltrow’s posts with outrage over her promotion of a project in Israel as Gaza lies in ruins due to Israel’s war there, and some commenters posted Palestinian flags and “Free Palestine” messages in several languages.

Online reactions split between pro-Palestinian criticism and defenders of Paltrow’s involvement, with CBC reporting that Alana Hadid called the campaign “tone deaf” and “complicit,” while actor Geraldine Viswanathan wrote “Oh my god.”

CBC also said makeup influencer Matt Bernstein shared a post slamming Paltrow, writing “The level of greed and depravity is truly incomprehensible,” and influencer Ian Lightfoot commented, “This is one of the most dystopian things I’ve ever seen.”

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Supporters pushed back as well, with CBC reporting that Israeli author and influencer Hen Mazzig praised Paltrow’s decision to appear, writing, “Putting your name anywhere near Israel is supposed to be a career risk now.”

The Times of Israel described pro-Palestinian activists decrying the ad as tone-deaf, citing the account Saint Hoax, which wrote, “Gwyneth ‘I don’t feel anything’ Paltrow is promoting million-dollar condos in Israel, during an active genocide,” and the same report noted that Paltrow’s management did not respond to a request for comment.

Beyond the celebrity controversy, the Guardian’s Arwa Mahdawi linked the 51 Park promotion to wider scrutiny of Israeli real estate and settlement-linked projects, noting that Melisron, the parent company behind 51 Park, also owns a commercial real estate project in the Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumim in the occupied West Bank.

Mahdawi wrote that Amnesty International accused the Israeli government in a detailed 149-page report of carrying out a campaign of “state-sanctioned, state-driven and state-implemented” ethnic cleansing in the occupied West Bank, and she quoted Amnesty’s description that it is using the term “in line with the UN Commission of Experts on Former Yugoslavia’s definition”.

The same Guardian account argued that Gaza’s conditions make the luxury framing especially stark, citing Unicef USA’s statement that “more than 70,000 cases of rodent and ectoparasitic infestations have been reported in 2026 alone,” while describing how Paltrow’s ad highlights amenities like a swimming pool and a wine room.

In parallel, South African Jewish Report coverage of Israeli dissident filmmaker Nadav Lapid described how pro-Palestinian filmmakers threatened to pull out of the Marseille International Film Festival over his acceptance of funding from the Israeli government, and Lapid told JTA, “To make people like myself the enemy when the actual state of things is so terrible, it’s insanity. It’s stupidity.”