Model Bella Hadid responded to criticism of her involvement in an Adidas ad campaign the Israeli government denounced for its link to a 1972 terrorist attack, saying she wouldn’t have participated in the partnership had she known about the connection.
Adidas featured Hadid in advertisements this month for its retro-inspired SL 72 shoes, which were first released for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. During those Games, members of the Palestinian militant group Black September infiltrated the Olympic Village and killed 11 Israeli athletes. Adidas pulled the ads this month after online backlash arose.
“I would never knowingly engage with any art or work that is linked to a horrific tragedy of any kind,” Hadid wrote in a statement Monday on Instagram, where she has 6.1 million followers.
Hadid, whose father is Palestinian, has been the subject of scrutiny online for her pro-Palestinian advocacy in the past, especially since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7. On her Instagram page, she has a post from 2021 pinned that features an image of a protest sign with a quote attributed to her: “It’s free Palestine til’ Palestine is free.”
Hadid said in her statement that she is “shocked,” “upset” and “disappointed in the lack of sensitivity that went into this campaign.”
“Had I been made aware, from the bottom of my heart, I would never have participated,” she wrote. “My team should have known, adidas should have known and I should have done more research so that I too would have known and understood, and spoken up.”
The backlash to the brand and Hadid appeared to first circulate online after the official X account of Israel, which is operated by the Foreign Affairs Ministry, commented on the campaign.
“Guess who the face of their campaign is?” the account wrote on X on July 17, tagging Adidas directly. “Bella Hadid, a half-Palestinian model who has a history of spreading antisemitism and calling for violence against Israelis and Jews.”
The American Jewish Committee, an advocacy organization, also criticized Adidas’ decision in a statement on X.
“For Adidas to pick a vocal anti-Israel model to recall this dark Olympics is either a massive oversight or intentionally inflammatory,” it wrote.
In a statement issued when Adidas pulled the ad, a spokesperson said it is “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,” Adidas said.
It declined to comment further Tuesday.
The decision to pull the ads featuring Hadid prompted some online to call for a boycott of Adidas.
A spokesperson for Hadid said she has no further comment.
In her statement, Hadid condemned hate “in any form.”
“I will forever stand by my people of Palestine while continuing to advocate for a world free of antisemitism,” she said. “Antisemitism has no place in the liberation of the Palestinian people.”
