US model Bella Hadid has said she is “shocked”, “upset” and “disappointed” at the Adidas campaign in which she was featured that evoked memories of the terrorist attack that killed Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Hadid – who is half-Palestinian – was initially featured in the German sportswear’s advertisement campaign for its SL72 running shoe, which paid homage to the Munich games after its release earlier in July. At those Olympics, the Palestinian militant group known as Black September murdered 11 Israeli competitors as well as one German police officer.
The 27-year-old Hadid and Adidas were both met swiftly with public backlash, including accusations of antisemitism.
“Guess who the face of their campaign is?” the official X account for Israel posted. “Bella Hadid, a half-Palestinian model who has a history of spreading antisemitism and calling for violence against Israelis and Jews.”
“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 wrote on X. “Neither is acceptable.”
Hadid in the past has spoken out against Israel’s occupation of Palestine as well as the Israeli military’s onslaught in Gaza in retaliation for Hamas’s 7 October attacks. She has repeatedly refuted accusations that she is antisemitic.