Iranian Model Receives Death Threats After Supporting Donald Trump, Grammy Appearance
By Mike Walters on February 4, 2020 at 5:35 PM EST
Iranian model Megan Pormer is the victim of violent death threats after she wore a custom made dress to the Grammy Awards she believed was a public message for peace between the U.S. and Iran. Instead, she says Iranians attacked her online, believing she was supporting a violent regime, and President Donald Trump.
Pormer made national headlines after her red carpet appearance at the Grammy Awards wearing a dress with the slogan, "No War." The dress has also had a heart emblazoned across the front with one word "Iran." At one point, on the carpet, Megan spread her arms and revealed wings made out of both the United States and Iranian flags stitched together.
Gettyimages | Jon Kopaloff
At first, many praised Pormer for the positive message of peace. But Megan tells The Blast, her Twitter feed was then flooded with hateful and violent messages from Iranians who misinterpreted her dress as a show of support for the regime.
“For the first 12 hours after the Grammys, I was really happy that the American media embraced my message of peace and unity between America and Iran,” Pormer tells us.
Also, she has been supportive of Donald Trump's stance on the situation and even praised the President for his comments during the State Of The Union address.
"I proudly support @realdonaldtrump's message about Iran during his State Of the Union speech," she posted on Instagram.
Megan continued, “I was so excited for the Iranian people to see the photos and realize that someone was representing them in a positive way at a major Hollywood event. But to my surprise, they started attacking me. Before I knew it, they accused me of being a member of ISIS or the Islamic Republic regime and there wasn’t a single curse word or bad word that they hadn’t said about me. But I really became terrified when I saw the all of messages threatening to harm me.”
Pormer says she is heartbroken that her fellow Iranians completely misunderstood her intentions, saying, “The only reason I wore that dress is to separate the people of Iran from the regime or the terrorists."
Promer claims she was not always open about her ethnicity because of institutional bias towards people from her home country. “When I first moved to Hollywood, I was advised to not tell anyone that I was from Iran because it’s difficult for Americans to separate the people of Iran from the regime," she explains.
She continued, "But after I saw that Donald Trump tweeted a few things in Farsi supporting the Iranian people, that gave me the courage to spread a message of unity and to pave the way for Iranians around the world to not be scared of who they are and for the world to understand that Iranian people are different from the regime.”
However, Pormer tells The Blast, she won’t be deterred by the death threats and is hopeful that the Iranian people will eventually realize that she was trying to use her platform to support them.
She concludes, “I knew people all around the world would be watching the Grammys so when I received an invitation to attend, I knew I had to use this opportunity to make a major statement. I love America and I love the Iranian people. I want peace and love for all. And I want everyone to live like we do in America, to have the freedom of speech."
