Gadot opened the video - which includes, among others, Sarah Silverman, Natalie Portman, Kristen Wiig, Zoe Kravitz, Will Ferrell, Mark Ruffalo and Jimmy Fallon - saying, “Hey guys, it’s day six in self-quarantine and I gotta say that these past few days got me feeling a bit philosophical. You know, this virus has infected the entire world, everyone. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from, we’re all in this together,” then tells fans she was inspired by a video she saw of an Italian trumpet player serenading people stuck in quarantine with the John Lennon classic.
While the clip went viral and many fans posted videos of themselves singing as well, it inspired a fast and furious social-media backlash.
Labeling the video “cringe” and “tone deaf,” many were not charmed by celebrities who can retreat to their mansions when they “self isolate” singing about imagining no possessions.
“A Video of Celebrities Singing Imagine So Bad It Can Bring Us All Together in Hatred,” read the headline on Heather Schwedel’s article on the Slate website. “It’s nice to see everybody come together in a time of crisis. And for once, regardless of age, gender, race, faith, or political party, we can all agree: Gal Gadot’s video of self-isolated celebrities singing Imagine is one of the worst things to have ever happened,” she writes, then ranks the performances from least to most annoying.
The Twitterverse erupted with snark and not only about the off-key singing. Casey Cipriani expressed the sentiments of many when she wrote, “Hey celebs, we don't want to be sung to. We want you to use a million or two of your money and order ventilators, masks, and gloves from the manufacturers then donate them to a hospital. Or pay for the salaries of an entire staff at a bar, restaurant, or daycare.”
Matt Ritter wrote, “I love that these celebs thought it was gonna be their ‘We are the World’ but it ended being the ‘Ishtar’ of celebrity sing-alongs.”
Several referenced the recent Oscar-winning film, Parasite, about a poor South Korean family that tries to survive by working for a wealthy one, even showing Gal Gadot replacing the actress in the film who plays the clueless matriarch of the wealthy clan, riding in a limousine.
Others mentioned the Aerosmith tune, “Eat the Rich,” posting images of cartoon characters such as SpongeBob and Winnie the Pooh feasting.
Still others asked why Gadot couldn’t simply have re-posted the video of the Italian trumpet player.
Gadot raised eyebrows earlier this month when she was flown by a private plane chartered by Netflix to protect her from coronavirus on her way to the set of the upcoming movie Red Alert, after she told People magazine in January that she would not fly in private planes to help the environment.
But many of Gadot’s fans felt she was being treated unfairly. “We are truly through the looking glass when a celebrity can try to do something nice + gets lambasted as if she’s to blame for everything,” said a Twitter user named Jen, who suggested people direct their anger at governments that failed to prepare for the pandemic.
About 9 out of 10 postings were savagely critical of the video, however, proving one thing: the singing celebs truly united people from all over the world.