Supermodel was branded ‘terrorist’ at school, smeared in press for her advocacy ‘I had so many companies stop working with me. I had friends that completely dropped me’ LONDON: Supermodel Bella Hadid has said her support for Palestine saw her labeled a “terrorist” at school, and has cost her career opportunities and relationships with friends. For the latest updates, follow us on Instagram @arabnews.lifestyle During an exclusive interview on the “Rep” podcast with host Noor Tagouri, Hadid added that from an early age, she was warned not to talk about politics, and especially not about Palestine. “When I was 14, I wrote ‘Free Palestine’ on my hand — literally with flowers in paint on my hand — and I was called names and immediately blasted as a person of hatred for another people,” she said. “I had my friend’s parents tell me that my dad was a liar and (that) where he’s been telling me he was from is fake and not true,” she added. “I was called a terrorist by the head of the (school) football team. So from that point on, like in eighth grade and you’re just like, ‘Is it because of my dad’s name? Or is it because of where my family comes from? Or is it because of me and the way that I look?’” Hadid said the pressure followed her into adulthood and her working life. “I had so many companies stop working with me. I had friends that completely dropped me — like even friends that I’d been having dinner with at their home on Friday nights for seven years, like now, just won’t let me at their house anymore,” she added. “I have no fear when it comes to this.” In May last year, the New York Times ran an advert paid for by a right-wing group in the US attacking her, her sister and fellow supermodel Gigi, and British pop star Dua Lipa, equating their support for Palestine with terrorism. “It was really disappointing for me because we all really have taken time and money, subscriptions to read something (the NYT) that we really felt was powerful, had integrity and (was) educational. And at this point, it was just, they sold their soul,” said Hadid. “When I speak about Palestine, I get labeled as something that I’m not.”