Fashion model Bella Hadid opened up about her upbringing as the daughter of a refugee in a magazine interview this week, explaining that President Donald Trump’s proposed immigration policy hits “close to home” for her.
“My dad was a refugee when he first came to America, so it’s actually very close to home for my sister and brother and me,” the 20-year-old model — who has posed for campaigns for Fendi, Dior, DKNY and other fashion brands — told Porter magazine for its summer issue, according to preview excerpts in the Daily Mail.
“He was always religious, and he always prayed with us,” Hadid said of her father, Mohamed Hadid, a real estate developer who was born in Palestine and reportedly lived in Syria and Lebanon before immigrating to America. “I am proud to be a Muslim.”
Hadid and her older sister Gigi, 21, have quickly become some of the most sought-after models in fashion.
The two have even worked together on some shoots, including for Moschino’s Spring 2017 campaign.
‘People think we’re the same and that we’ve been working just as long, but I’m two years behind her,” Hadid told Porter of her relationship with her sister. “I still have a long time to catch up!”
The supermodel sisters have also become fierce critics of President Trump’s proposed immigration policies.
In January, the Hadids were photographed participating in a New York City rally to protest Trump’s proposal to temporarily halt immigration from a number of terror-prone countries.
In November, Gigi Hadid came under fire on social media for performing what some critics called a “disrespectful” impression of First Lady Melania Trump during the American Music Awards.
The model later apologized, saying the impression had been done “in good humor and with no bad intent.”
Porter‘s summer issue is due out April 7.
Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum
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