Adidas is apologizing for including model Bella Hadid in its campaign relaunching a shoe from the 1972 Munich Olympics, where Palestinian terrorists killed 11 Israeli athletes. Hadid's father is Palestinian and she has been vocal critic of the Israeli government over the years.
The SL 72 campaign, unveiled on Monday, revived the "coveted classic" sneaker that was first created for Adidas athletes at the Munich Olympics. An ad that appeared across Adidas platforms and a Times Square billboard featured Hadid wearing the trainers while holding flowers.
"Giving Bella Hadid her flowers in the SL 72," Adidas Originals said in a now-deleted post on X.
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The sports apparel company came under fire for choosing Hadid as the face of the campaign.
During the 1972 Munich Olympics, the Palestinian terrorist group Black September infiltrated the Olympic Village, killing two Israeli athletes and kidnapping nine others in what is now known as the Munich massacre. All nine Israelis and a German police officer were killed in a failed rescue operation.
"For Adidas to pick a vocal anti-Israel model to recall this dark Olympics is either a massive oversight or intentionally inflammatory," the American Jewish Committee posted on X Thursday. "Neither is acceptable."
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Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt called Adidas' decision a "serious misjudgment that dishonors the victims" on X.
“For Adidas to choose Hadid, someone who is constantly baiting Jews and attacking the Jewish State, is bad enough," Combat Antisemitism Movement CEO Sacha Roytman said in a statement Thursday. "[T]o have her launch a shoe commemorating an Olympics when so much Jewish blood was shed is just sick."
An Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs-run X account also responded to Adidas' post.
Adidas apologized in a statement and said it would make changes to the campaign, though it did not specify what those revisions would be.
"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,” a company spokesperson said. "As a result, we are revising the remainder of the campaign. We believe in sport as a unifying force around the world and will continue our efforts to champion diversity and equality in everything we do.”
Hadid is vocal about her pro-Palestinian views and frequently speaks out against the Israel-Hamas War on social media. She and sister Gigi Hadid donated $1 million in June to Palestinian relief efforts, according to BBC.
"Palestine on my mind, in my blood and on my heart," Hadid wrote in the Instagram caption of a photo of her wearing a keffiyeh dress. "ALL EYES ON RAFAH 🇵🇸"
Her father, Mohamed Hadid, was born in Nazareth in 1948, when Israeli forces drove 750,000 Palestinians out in the Nakba.
Hadid's ad was taken off of Adidas' social media accounts but is still featured on the company's website as of Friday morning.
