She is an American top model, she’s educated, a coder, an outspoken business maverick and an entrepreneur. Add wife and mother of two. And, for a long time it seemed this statuesque former Victoria’s Secret Angel could do no wrong. With her girl-next-door-cute face and slender 188-centimeter-tall body she has been one of the smartest, most enduring forces in modelling. She has helped hundreds of young kids gain an interest in educating themselves in technology. And now, she has also become a hate target.
Why? Because of her reluctance to speak up against the war in Gaza.
Kloss was raised in St. Louis and spotted by a talent scout at a local charity fashion show in 2006 at the age of 14. Although having been critiqued for promoting an unhealthy body image – as being “too thin” – she has had a fabulous career and is as respected for her catwalking as she is for her philanthropy and business skills. Her passion for tech led her to take her first coding class in 2014. Inspired by code’s creativity and endless possibilities, she launched Kode With Klossy in 2015, a nonprofit organization focused on teaching and creating opportunities for young women and underrepresented genders aiming to increase their confidence and inspire them to pursue their passions in a technology-driven world. According to her agent the classes two-week class has reached over 12,000 young kids nationally through its flagship summer camps: “Understanding that female, transgender, and nonbinary individuals need to have a seat at the table in shaping the technologies that are shaping our world, Kloss is committed to fostering this diverse group of future leaders and closing the gender gap”.
Great, right?
But then, there is the problematic hubby. His family ties. In October 2018 she got married to billionaire tech investor Joshua Kushner. Founding his own venture capital firm at 24, he’s since made billions from his investments in Kim Kardashian’s Skims, Instagram, Spotify, ClassPass and more. And yes, he is the younger brother of Donald Trump’s former adviser Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump’s brother-in-law. According to social media Kloss and Joshua Kushner are fervent Democrats, something Klossy have said has been a bit tricky but not enough to make her change the liberal values she was brought up with. Values, she, according to british VOGUE, shares with her husband.
But add the fact Kusher is Jewish, and you get the picture? With the ongoing war in Gaza putting celebrity-related social media opinions under the microscope, a number of people have wanted Kloss, who upon marrying Kutcher converted to Judaism, to come out with a public condemnation of the war in Gaza. So far, that has not happened. Well except for one Instagram post below. According to critiques, it is not enough.
In 2016 Washington Post and Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Jared Kushner’s parents’ Charles and Seryl Kushner Family Foundation had donated more than $325,000 to the FIDF (Israeli Defense Forces),over the years.
Kloss and Kusher’s company Bedford Media where Kloss is CEO announced earlier this month that they want to bring back Life Magazine to print and digital distribution as part of an agreement with Dotdash Meredith – the largest print and digital publisher in America. The couple earlier bought iD Magazine from Vice Media. Their takeover at i-D caused some controversy over the fact a post on their website calling for a ceasefire in Gaza was deleted just days before Karlie Kloss’ ownership was announced. So now Karlie Kloss is regularely slammed on social media for her lack of communicating support for Gaza.
So, here we are. Should we demand that celebs take a stand? I’d say no. Not if you don’t normally voice opinions on political matters anyway. But, again what is it worth? Reporter Jill Filipovic at CNN have pointed earlier out how difficult it is to develop a hard-and-fast rule for celebrity political engagement. How ridiculous and misleading they look when they get it wrong. Like when model Gigi Hadid posted a criticism of Israeli arrests and detentions of Palestinians, including children, but got so many of the facts wrong she eventually took it down and apologized for sharing.
But, take a look at the picture above: the March-cover of british VOGUE. All famous faces of the fashion industry and media comming together in one huge photoshoot as a tribute to editor Edward Enninful, when he stepped down as Editor-in-Chief. Few have missed what an impact Enninful have made on questions of racism and diversity during his time at the helm. Using his platform to make a difference.
“Most of us, I suspect, appreciate it when celebrities throw their influence behind the causes we care about, and are pretty disgusted when they publicly oppose the causes we support” Filipovic says. True that – and sometimes it seems a celeb is damned if they do and damned if they don’t. Personally I think I would be annoyed being mobbed into making a statement over anything unless I was seriously engaged. But – can anyone refrain from taking a stand against questions like war, racism, genocide? I’d really really like to know your thoughts.
By Sissel Hoffengh
