Ruth Bader Ginsburg Still Plans To Attend Genesis Gala That Natalie Portman Is Snubbing

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By Jenny Singer April 20, 2018

Natalie Portman, it was announced on Thursday, will not attend the ceremony to accept the Genesis Prize in Israel, citing “recent events in Israel” that are “extremely distressing to her.” But as the news of Portman’s shocking stand ripples across the globe, the question remains: will Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the inaugural winner of the Genesis Lifetime Achievement Award still attend the ceremony?

When the Genesis organization announced the two prizes in November 2017, they planned two separate ceremonies for the winners. Portman’s award ceremony was to be held on June 28, 2018. Ginsburg’s Lifetime Achievement ceremony was scheduled for “early July,” 2018.

Ginsburg will attend the ceremony in July as planned, Haaretz reports, quoting a source at the Genesis organization.

Ironically, after Portman was announced as the recipient in November 2017, reports claimed that the award was originally slated to be given to Ginsburg. Then, the reports claimed, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heard of Ginsburg’s win, recalled her criticism of President Trump, and pressured the committee to transfer the prize to a less controversial winner.

Natalie Portman: a safe, non-controversial choice. Little did they know.

Jenny Singer is a writer for the Forward. You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny

Jenny Singer is a freelance writer with pieces in Vox, the Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, Teen Vogue, and more. She was previously a staff writer at Glamour and the Forward, and she’s currently getting an MFA in nonfiction writing at the University of Iowa.

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