Mystery Solved! Madonna Viral Instagram Pic Was Israeli Gay Party Ad
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
By Naomi Zeveloff May 19, 2015
Sorry, Madonna fans, but the Material Girl’s provocative Instagram photo of a Jewish man and an Arab man about to lock lips isn’t quite what it seems.
The photo is actually of two Israeli Jews: Imri Kalmann, 28, and Dekel Aiden, 24, two Tel Aviv party promoters who host a periodic gay club party called Dreck.
“I am not really Orthodox and he is not really Palestinian,” said Kalmann.
The picture first appeared last summer on a poster promoting a Dreck party in Tel Aviv. Kalmann said his team planned on something racier, but changed its concept after the start of Israel’s war with Gaza.
“We decided to do a photo shoot to say something that we feel regarding the war.”
In the picture, Kalmann is wearing a skullcap with Hebrew lettering and fake side curls that he purchased at a costume shop. Aiden is wearing a keffiyeh, or Palestinian national scarf, from Nazareth.
The poster was controversial at the time.
“Some understood the humor and liked it and appreciated it,” said Kalmann. “Some thought that in the middle of the war, when missiles were falling in Tel Aviv and people are in the war that it was not a time for peaceful homosexual posters. I don’t agree. I think that is the time to do it.”
Madonna’s Instagram post also raised hackles of her followers, most of whom apparently took it as authentic display of cross-cultural affection.
“You do not know at all what is happening here in Israel. Do not post such a picture here again,” one wrote.
Others were supportive: “Love is love my friends — doesn’t matter if you are Jewish or Muslim or whatever.”
Kalmann said that he was “shocked” when he saw Madonna post his photo on her feed. He has been to five of her concerts. “I really, really love Madonna.”
He said he has no idea how she found the image — but is happy the world is seeing it.
“I am very, very excited I have an opportunity to show this message to so many people and I thank Madonna for this.”
Dreck has stirred controversy in the past when it published a photo of a staged ISIS beheading to promote one of its parties. The group later apologized on Facebook.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
