Adidas apologizes for using Palestinian model in 1972 Olympic shoe ad

Adidas is apologizing for ‘any upset or distress caused’ by including Bella Hadid, a model with Palestinian lineage, in advertisements for its 1972 Munich Olympic sneaker relaunch.

The sports apparel company selected Hadid as the face of its recently-launched SL72 campaign, which celebrates the 52nd anniversary of the Munich Olympics with the revival of Adidas’ ‘coveted classic’ sneaker from the 70s. The 1972 Olympics in Munich, however, were overshadowed by a terrorist attack that left 11 Israeli athletes and one German police officer dead at the hands of a Palestinian militant group amid the Israeli-Palestine conflict.

“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 in a statement to USA TODAY Sports on Thursday. “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.”

Adidas’ SL72 advertisements feature an Adidas-clad Hadid holding flowers, while showing off her sneakers. ‘Giving Bella Hadid her flowers in the SL 72,’ read a tweet from Adidas Originals. But after the company issued an apology and promised to revise the campaign, all tweets featuring Hadid were scrubbed from Adidas Originals’ X account and Instagram. Hadid is still featured on Adidas’ website, as of Thursday afternoon.

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The American Jewish Committee called on Adidas to address the ‘egregious error.’

‘At the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, 12 Israelis were murdered and taken hostage by Palestinian terrorist group Black September. For Adidas to pick a vocal anti-Israel model to recall this dark Olympics is either a massive oversight or intentionally inflammatory. Neither is acceptable,’ the AJC wrote on X Thursday.

Hadid is a vocal supporter of Palestine and frequently uses her platform to speak out against Palestinians impacted by the Israeli-Palestine conflict. She marched against former President Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017, writing at the time, ‘The TREATMENT of the Palestinian people is unfair, one-sided and should not be tolerated. I stand with Palestine.’ Last month, Hadid and her sister, fellow supermodel Gigi Hadid, donated $1 million to Palestinian relief efforts, according to BBC.

Soccer player Jules Koundé, rapper A$AP Nast, musician Melissa Bon and model Sabrina Lan are also featured in the campaign, and all remain on Adidas’ various social media accounts.