Natalie Portman cancels attending Israeli award ceremony

TIL Desk Hollywood/ Actress Natalie Portman pulled out of an Israeli award ceremony in light of “recent events” in the country. The Oscar-winning actress, who has dual Israeli-American citizenship was announced as the honouree in last November by The Genesis Prize Foundation with the Genesis Prize Laureate, Israel’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize.

The Foundation said in a statement: “Recent events in Israel have been extremely distressing to her and she does not feel comfortable participating in any public events in Israel… She cannot in good conscience move forward with the ceremony.

“We are very saddened that she has decided not to attend the Genesis Prize Ceremony in Jerusalem for political reasons. We fear that Ms. Portman’s decision will cause our philanthropic initiative to be politicized, something we have worked hard for the past five years to avoid.” A representative for Portman, 36, did not immediately respond.