Bella Hadid has had a breakout year in the fashion industry and she’s already starting to use her rise to fame as a platform for politics.
The 20-year-old supermodel, who’s arguably eclipsing her older sister Gigi in the fashion industry, spoke out against Trump’s travel ban back in June, but her comments have just now been revealed. In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar Arabia published on Wednesday, Hadid criticized the immigration ban, which was just revised this week.
“My dad was a refugee,” Hadid told Harper’s Bazaar around the time the initial travel ban was issued. “He came from Palestine to America when he was a baby.”
“Thankfully, he was able to come, but it was very hard and now it’s probably 100 times harder,” she added. “It makes me sad that power is getting taken from a lot of people and they’re not able to make a new life for their children and their families. It’s crazy to me that one person can tell you whether or not you can have a better life.”
The Victoria’s Secret model feels so strongly on the issue that she joined the No Ban, No Wall protest in New York City with her sister Gigi without their usual security team.
“I just wanted to stand up for what I felt was right and I really didn’t care if I was with 100,000 other people because, with or without security, I wanted to go and stand for something I believe in,” Bella said, adding, “Nobody was even looking.”
“If I can’t talk about something that I’m passionate about, why even be here?,” she asked. “Why even do any of the stuff that I’m doing if I can’t make a better purpose for the world, or make a difference, or try to put light on a situation that is obviously so dark?”
“Since I was a kid I’ve loved helping people. My mom always said that I would go on the street and hug somebody that was sitting on the corner,” Bella recalled. “It was just because I genuinely loved people, and that’s something that I want to bring forward with me in my career. If I’m able to change something in the world for the better, then I’ll be ecstatic.”
