Roseanne Barr calls Natalie Portman ‘repulsive’ for skipping the ‘Jewish nobel’ awards ceremony

Roseanne Barr has called actress Natalie Portman ‘repulsive’ after she skipped an award ceremony in Israel last year. 

Barr, 66, who was promoting her upcoming trip to Israel in an interview with Israel’s Hayom newspaper called the 37-year-old Oscar-winning actress ‘repulsive’ for declining to accept an award in the Jewish state last April.

‘It was really sickening, I find her repulsive,’ Barr said of Portman. ‘She was raised in incredible privilege of safety in the Jewish state and knows nothing about anti-Semitism.’

Last April, Portman refused to collect her Genesis Prize – known as the ‘Jewish Nobel’ – in Jerusalem in April because Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be there. 

Portman said she ‘didn’t want to be seen endorsing’ him in the wake of violence at the Gaza border, but her decision caused a stir in Israel and the US.

Roseanne Barr called the Black Swan star ‘a complete hypocrite who grew up in safety and privilege’

At the time of the controversy, Portman said: ‘I chose not to attend because I did not want to appear as endorsing Benjamin Netanyahu, who was to be giving a speech at the ceremony.’

She also said that ‘the mistreatment of those suffering from today’s atrocities is simply not in line with my Jewish values,’ adding: ‘Because I care about Israel, I must stand up against violence, corruption, inequality, and abuse of power.’ 

One Israeli politician, Oren Hazan from the Likud party, branded it ‘complete craziness’ that she was awarded the prize in the first place and called for her citizenship to be revoked during the subsequent uproar.

He accused her of ‘cynically’ using her birthplace to further her career and said she had ‘no real connection to the State’ after leaving for the USA aged four. 

Barr went on: ‘She’s the darling of the left here, the Jewish left in Hollywood, she is a complete hypocrite who grew up in safety and privilege, like I said before, and knows nothing about what she speaks of.’ 

Barr, meanwhile, who was fired by ABC from the reboot of her hit sitcom, claims she was the victim of antisemitism.

The comedian was fired by ABC in May just a day after she posted a racist tweet about Valerie Jarrett, a former adviser in the Obama administration.

In an interview lasst week, Barr said the executives at ABC treated her unfairly because she is Jewish and supports Israel.

‘I chose not to attend because I did not want to appear as endorsing Benjamin Netanyahu, who was to be giving a speech at the ceremony,’Portman said

Barr will arrive in Israel at the end of the month along with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, as a guest of his World Values Network organization, and will speak at the Israeli Knesset against the boycott, divest and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. 

The BDS campaign promotes boycotting Israel and its products until the Jewish state removes settlements from the West Bank. 

The Genesis prize, launched in 2013, is awarded to ‘extraordinary individuals who serve as an inspiration to the next generation of Jews,’ according to foundation’s website.

Recipients contribute their winnings to causes of their choice, and Portman has said she intended to dedicate the money to programmes advancing women’s equality.

Born in Jerusalem to a doctor father and an artist mother, Portman won a best actress Oscar for 2010’s psychological ballet thriller ‘Black Swan’.