There were so many mortifying moments during the pandemic that it’s difficult to pinpoint the cringiest one. But no matter how long COVID-19 drags on, Gal Gadot and a bevy of celebrities singing John Lennon’s “Imagine” remains one of the worst of all time.
The “Justice League” alum has addressed the controversy in the past, expressing regret over organizing the sing-along in the first place. But now she’s speaking about the incident again, saying the whole thing was “in poor taste” in retrospect.
“I was calling Kristen [Wiig] and I was like, ‘Listen, I want to do this thing,’” Gadot told InStyle in their February 2022 issue. “The pandemic was in Europe and Israel before it came here [to the US] in the same way. I was seeing where everything was headed. But [the video] was premature.”
The Israeli star continued, “It wasn’t the right timing, and it wasn’t the right thing. It was in poor taste. All pure intentions, but sometimes you don’t hit the bull’s-eye, right?”
Prior to the InStyle interview, Gadot discussed the much maligned sing-along with Vanity Fair. During that conversation, she defended herself and claimed her intentions were always honorable.
“Sometimes, you know, you try and do a good deed and it’s just not the right good deed,” the “Wonder Woman” actress explained. “I had nothing but good intentions and it came from the best place, and I just wanted to send light and love to the world.”
The controversy in question included a group of A-list celebrities plus lesser know stars including Natalie Portman, Jimmy Fallon, Zoë Kravitz, Will Ferrell, Mark Ruffalo, Sia, and Maya Rudolph singing along to “Imagine” together.
At the time, Gadot shared that she was feeling “a bit philosophical” while in “self-quarantine” during the earliest stages of the pandemic in 2020 when most people were still sheltering at home.
“You know, this virus has affected the entire world — everyone — it doesn’t matter who you are, where you’re from, we’re all in this together,” she said in the video.
“I ran into this video of this Italian guy playing the trumpet on his balcony to all the other people who were locked in their homes. And he was playing ‘Imagine’ and there was something so powerful and pure about this video,” she continued, before launching into a few bars herself.
Then the clip cut to the other celebrities singing lines from their own homes. Some sang off-key while others looked unkempt in the clips. Overall, the cringiest aspect of the mash-up was how clueless Gadot and her millionaire friends were to be singing about harmony while holed up in their massive homes with little fear of losing their jobs or the ability to put food on the table.
Larry the Cable Guy, whose real name is Daniel Lawrence Whitney, summed up most people’s issue with the clip.
“Here’s a message from people with a lot of possessions that can take a year off of work and not flinch telling everyone outa work to imagine a world with no possessions while people are living in the street a half mile away from ‘em.” Whitney wrote on Twitter. “They’re clueless.”