Bar Refaeli facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Bar Refaeli
בר רפאלי
Refaeli in 2019
Born	(1985-06-04) 4 June 1985 (age 40) Hod HaSharon, Israel
Occupation	Model television host businesswoman actress
Spouse(s)	Arik Weinstein ​ ​ (m. 2003; div. 2005)​ Adi Ezra ​ (m. 2015)​
Children	3
Modelling information
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Hair colour	Blonde
Eye colour	Blue
Agency	One Management (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles) Marilyn Agency (Paris) MP Management (Milan) Premier Model Management (London) Uno Models (Barcelona) Scoop Models (Copenhagen) Model Management (Hamburg) PARS Management (Munich) Stockholmsgruppen (Stockholm)

Bar Refaeli (Hebrew: בר רפאלי; born (1985-06-04)4 June 1985) is an Israeli model, television host, businesswoman and actress. She is among the most internationally successful models to come from Israel, appearing on the cover of the 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. As a television host, Refaeli has hosted The X Factor Israel since 2013 and co-hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv.

As a result of her modeling and investment careers, her net worth was estimated at US$20 million in 2015. She was the highest-paid model in Israel according to Forbes Israel in 2013.

Early life

Five-year-old Refaeli with her mother Tzipi in 1990

Refaeli was born and raised in Hod HaSharon, Israel, to a secular Jewish family. In Hebrew, her first name means "wild" (as in wilderness), and her surname literally means "my God heals" and is a derivative of the biblical angel Raphael. Her parents were both born in Israel, and her grandparents were immigrants from Europe and of Sephardic Jewish (Italian-Jewish) and Ashkenazi Jewish (Lithuanian-Jewish and Polish-Jewish) descent. Her grandparents were Holocaust survivors. Her father Refael "Rafi" Refaeli is a former horse stable owner, and her mother was a model in the 1970s under her maiden name Tzipora "Tzipi" Levine. Her younger brothers are entrepreneur Dor Refaeli and actor On Refaeli. She also has an older half-brother, Neil Ben-Porat, from her mother's first marriage to Israeli businessman Yehousha "Shuki" Ben-Porat.

Career

18-year-old Refaeli in 2003

Modeling

Refaeli began modeling at the age of eight months, when she first appeared in commercials. Orthodonture at 12 interrupted her modeling until she was 15, when an Israeli fashion awards ceremony awarded Refaeli "Model of the Year" (2000). She played prominently in campaigns for the fashion brands Castro and Pilpel, and she starred in a Milky pudding commercial.

She has appeared in editorials for French, American, Italian, Spanish, Russian, and Ukrainian Elle, Spanish Vogue, British, Russian, Australian, and Vietnamese Harper's Bazaar, V, French and Dutch L'Officiel, American, British, Italian, German, Spanish, and Indian GQ, i-D, and Allure. She has appeared on the covers of French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Russian, Belgian, Danish, Swedish, Australian, Latvian, Norwegian, Polish, Bulgarian, Romanian, Slovenian, Croatian, and Turkish Elle, French, Spanish, and Russian Marie Claire, British, Italian, Spanish, German, Portuguese, and Mexican GQ, and Esquire.

Refaeli has appeared in advertising campaigns for Chanel, Escada, Ralph Lauren, Desigual, Andrew Marc, Victoria's Secret, Marks and Spencer, Gap, Moët & Chandon, Hurley, Rampage, True Religion, Lucky Brand, Accessorize, Passionata, Fox, Reebok, Sears, Arrow, Besni, Marco Bicego, and Agua Bendita. She also has appeared in advertising-campaigns for non-fashion brands such as Garnier Fructis, Samsung, and Subaru.

Refaeli became the second Israeli model to appear in Sports Illustrated magazine (after Michaela Bercu), in her 2007 debut in its Swimsuit Issue, where she posed with the rock band Aerosmith. Refaeli was the cover-model for the 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

Refaeli at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival

A commercial featuring Refaeli on a major highway billboard in Israel

Refaeli has modeled for Subaru, Accessorize, Brazilian clothing line Besni, Italian jewelry line Marco Bicego, and Rampage. In 2009, she modeled for Garnier International.

On 5 March 2009, Refaeli received the World Style Award presented by the Women's World Awards for her "natural elegance, sense of style, and compassion." In October of the same year, Refaeli co-hosted Fashionable Istanbul's press conference, announced its October 2009 fashion event, and appeared in its advèrtisements.

In April 2012, Shalom Life ranked her fourth on its list of the "50 most talented, intelligent, funny, and gorgeous Jewish women in the world."

According to Forbes Israel, in 2013 she was the highest-paid model in Israel, ahead of the combined modelling income of such other Israeli models as Esti Ginzburg, Gal Gadot, and Shlomit Malka.

In 2013 she also received a Vienna Fashion Award in the category of "Style-Icon".

As of March 2017, Refaeli was the second most influential person on Israeli Instagram, according to the Israeli Internet Association, behind Anna Zak, but ahead of Neta Alchimister.

Film, television, and stage

Refaeli co-starred in the Israeli TV drama series Pick Up in 2005. In October 2008, she co-hosted the Bravo special program Tommy Hilfiger Presents Ironic Iconic America, based on the book Ironic Iconic America written by George Lois. She returned as a program host in 2009, this time for MTV's brief revival of House of Style.

In 2009, she was also a guest-judge at Project Runway Israel.

In 2011, Refaeli starred in the American-Israeli film Session, directed by Haim Bouzaglo. The film is a psychological thriller that tells the story of a manipulative psychiatrist who becomes obsessed with a new young patient. She also served as a guest judge on cycle four of Germany's Next Topmodel hosted by Heidi Klum. In November 2012 she started her own model casting show Million Dollar Shootingstar on German TV Channel Sat.1.

In late 2012, she played the titular role in Cinderella, a musical adaptation staged for Channukkah in Israel.

In January 2013, Refaeli appeared in Go Daddy's Super Bowl XLVII commercial. In 2013, Refaeli also hosted the first season of The X Factor Israel, which became the most popular music show in Israel, leading to them bringing her back in 2015 for season two. In 2018 Refaeli appeared in a music video of X Factor judge, Ivri Lider. In 2013, Refaeli played a starring role in the French-Israeli crime-caper film Kidon, a comedy in which she stars as a Mossad assassin involved in liquidating a terrorist.

Assi Azar reportedly wrote the hit Israeli TV series, Beauty and the Baker with Refaeli in mind for the lead role. Rotem Sela eventually played the role that Refaeli reportedly turned down.

Refaeli hosting the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv

Refaeli hosted the main event of the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv alongside Erez Tal, whereas Assi Azar and Lucy Ayoub hosted the Green Room (Artists' backstage).

Business and investment

Refaeli has an ownership stake in a number of Israeli fashion companies, such as in the designer glasses manufacturer Carolina Lemke. In September 2018 it was announced that Kim Kardashian would be the face of the brand alongside Refaeli, with the two appearing in a promotional campaign together.

On the sale of a 5% stake to Israeli fashion brand Castro in 2016, Refaeli made a NIS 2-4 million profit.

In 2011, Refaeli and Dudi Balsar, an Israeli attorney and former male model, set up an E-commerce company called Under.me, to sell designer underwear. As well as being its investor, Refaeli runs business development for the venture. By November 2011, the company had raised $1 million in venture capital funds.

In 2013, her startup Mika Look, which is an iPad app that allows users to purchase the items that models are wearing, raised $1.2 million in its first financing round.

Refaeli is one of the main investors behind MyCheck, which processes payments behind smart phones, and which raised $1.7 million in its first financing round. In its second financing round, it raised $4.2 million.

Activism and charity

Refaeli participated in a campaign to help reduce the use of plastic bags in Israel. In 2009, she led an unpaid campaign on behalf of the Israel Water Authority, to educate the public about water use and conservation.

On 7 June 2013, Refaeli hosted a beach party in Tel Aviv for participants of Tel Aviv Pride, the city's gay pride parade. In November 2013, she spoke out in support of legislation for civil marriages in Israel, as part of a campaign for the proposed Knesset bill.

Refaeli hosted the closing ceremony for the 2017 Maccabiah Games in Latrun, Israel, on 18 July 2017.

Personal life

In 2003, Refaeli married family friend Arik Weinstein. Refaeli was criticized for the marriage as it was widely reported she only married Weinstein in order to avoid being drafted into the Israel Defense Forces. They divorced sometime in 2005. Weinstein published a memoir about their marriage, titled The Untold Story: by Arik Weinstein First Husband of Bar Refael, in 2017.

In November 2005, Refaeli began a relationship with American actor Leonardo DiCaprio, after meeting him at a party in Las Vegas for members of U2. In the course of their trip to Israel in March 2007, the couple met Israeli President Shimon Peres and visited her hometown of Hod HaSharon. The relationship ended in June 2009. In 2010, numerous reports indicated that their romance had been rekindled, but in May 2011, it was reported that they had ended their romantic relationship and would remain friends.

She married Israeli businessman Adi Ezra on 24 September 2015 in Israel. They have three children: Elle (born 2016), Liv (born 2017), and David (born 2020).

Filmography

Film

Television

See also

In Spanish: Bar Refaeli para niños

• Israeli fashion