Adidas Apologizes to Anti-Israel Model Bella Hadid for Pulling Her From Sneaker Campaign After Backlash
Bella Hadid in a Adidas campaign for the brand’s remake of its SL 72 sneaker. Photo: Adidas
Adidas publicly apologized again — this time to anti-Israel supermodel Bella Hadid — for a new sneaker campaign tied to the 1972 terrorist attack at the Munich Olympics, where Palestinian terrorists murdered 11 members of Israel’s Olympic team after taking them hostage.
The German sportswear giant issued an apology early Sunday morning saying that “connections continue to be made” between its recent SL72 campaign, modeled by Hadid and others, and the murder of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches at the Munich Olympics by the Palestinian terrorist group Black September.
“These connections are not meant and we apologize for any upset or distress caused to communities around the world,” Adidas said in a statement shared on social media. “We made an unintentional mistake.”
The company concluded by apologizing to its “partners” in the campaign — including Hadid, soccer player Jules Koundé, and rapper A$AP Nast — “for any negative impact on them and we are revising the campaign.”
Photo: Screenshot
The controversy started last week, when Adidas was slammed for selecting Hadid to model in its new campaign for the iconic SL 72 sneaker, which was originally released in 1972 and used by athletes at that year’s Olympic Games in Munich. Hadid has publicly criticized Israel numerous times; chanted for it to be replaced with “Palestine”; called it a “white supremacist” state; and falsely accused the country of perpetrating an ethnic cleansing, occupation, and apartheid over the Palestinian people.
Pro-Israel supporters demanded that Adidas drop Hadid from the campaign and apology for its “insensitivity” in hiring her to model sneakers connected to the murder of Israelis. The German company, whose founders were members of the Nazi party, caved to the pressure and pulled Hadid from the campaign late Thursday. Adidas also issued its first apology regarding the matter.
“We are conscious that connections have been made to tragic historical events — though these are completely unintentional — and we apologize for any upset or distress caused,” Adidas said. “As a result we are revising the remainder of the campaign.”
Hadid has not publicly commented on the situation, but insiders told Us Weekly that she hired legal counsel to take action against Adidas “for their lack of public accountability” and for releasing a campaign that “would associate anyone with the death and violence of what took place at the 1972 Munich Games.”
Hadid’s sister is fellow supermodel Gigi Hadid, and their father is real estate developer Mohammed Hadid, who has his own history of attacking Israel, falsely accusing it of genocide, and criticizing Israel’s supporters.
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