Model Bella Hadid issued a statement after starring in a controversial Adidas campaign that the sportswear company said had an “unintentional” connection to a bloody terrorist attack.
The ad campaign for Adidas’ new retro trainers, called the SL72s, was a nod to the 1972 Munich Olympics. Released earlier in July, the advertisement featured Hadid holding a bouquet of flowers while wearing the shoes, which originally debuted in 1972 for the Munich Olympics.
But that year’s games are widely known for the dark tragedy that took place in Munich’s Olympic village: a massacre committed by by a Palestinian group called Black September, who killed 11 Israeli athletes and one German police officer on Sept. 5, 1972.
Backlash in response to the Adidas campaign was immediate, as were attacks directed against Hadid, who is half Palestinian and has advocated for Palestinian rights and donated money to relief efforts in the Gaza Strip. Hadid said she was not aware of the connection to the historical events of the 1972 Munich Olympics, and that she would not have taken part in the campaign had she known.
“I am shocked, I am upset, and I am disappointed in the lack of sensitivity that went into this campaign,” the U.S.-born Hadid said in a statement shared on her Instagram story on Monday evening.
“I would never knowingly engage with any art or work that is linked to a horrific tragedy of any kind,” said the 27-year-old model, who has also worked as the face of Dior.
“In advance of the campaign release, I had no knowledge of the historical connection to the atrocious events in 1972 … Had I been made aware, from the bottom of my heart, I would never have participated.”
“My team should have known,” she added. “Adidas should have known and I should have done more research so that I too would have known and understood, and spoken up.”
On July 19, Adidas issued a statement apologizing for the ad and said it was “revising the remainder of the campaign.”
“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,” the company said.
“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,” it added. Social media posts of the ad campaign featuring Hadid were removed, according to The Guardian.
Fierce criticism of the campaign came from the Israeli government, whose official account on X expressed opposition to Hadid being the “face of their [Adidas’] campaign,” and from the American Jewish Committee, which said that Adidas’ decision to feature a “vocal anti-Israel model to recall this dark Olympics is either a massive oversight or intentionally inflammatory.”
The organization did not provide evidence for its claim that Hadid was “anti-Israel.” Hadid has criticized the actions of the Israeli government, while also vocally expressing her opposition to antisemitism.
Hadid’s supporters lambasted the attacks against her and the Adidas decision to pull her from the campaign, saying that making the association between Hadid and a terrorist attack that took place 52 years ago — simply because of her ethnicity — is racist. Many pro-Palestinian activists have called for a boycott of Adidas.
Adidas did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.
“While everyone’s intentions were to make something positive, and bring people together through art, the collective lack of understanding from all parties undermined the process,” Hadid said in her Monday statement.
“I do not believe in hate in any form, including antisemitism. That will never waver, and I stand by that statement to the fullest extent. Connecting the liberation of the Palestinian people to an attack so tragic, is something that hurts my heart … I will forever stand by my people of Palestine while continuing to advocate for a world free of antisemitism,” she added.
“Antisemitism has no place in the liberation of the Palestinian people.”
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