Adidas has removed images of American fashion model Bella Hadid from a recent campaign after receiving criticism from the Israeli government.
As per a report made by The Guardian, the sportswear and workout clothes company stated it was “revising” its recent campaign featuring Hadid.
Adidas’ campaign promoted a sports shoe that was first launched to coincide with the 1972 Munich Olympic Games when 11 members of the Israeli team were taken hostage and murdered by Palestinian terrorists.
Israel took to X (Twitter) through their official account to state how they objected to Hadid being “the face of [the Adidas] campaign.”
In response, Adidas said in a statement, that the campaign “unites a broad range of partners.”
“We are conscious that connections have been made to tragic historical events – though these are completely unintentional – and we apologise for any upset or distress caused.”
“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 has voiced her support for Palestinians in Gaza frequently.
She and her sister Gigi donated $1 million to humanitarian efforts in the region last month.
According to Daily Mail, Bella has hired a legal team after being removed from the Adidas SL72 sneaker campaign, citing the ‘brand’s lack of accountability for its role in the backlash.’
As per TMZ, Bella is said to be ‘troubled’ that the sportswear company would release a campaign connecting someone to a tragedy such as the 1972 Munich Massacre.
“Violence is not consistent with Bella’s views,” a source told US Weekly.
Adidas went on to apologise as backlash heightened over the campaign, sharing a statement to the Adidas Originals Instagram page on Sunday.
It began: “Connections continue to be made to the terrible tragedy that occurred at the Munich Olympics due to our recent SL71 campaign.”
“These connections are not meant and we apologise for any upset or distress caused to communities around the world,” it added.
“We made an unintentional mistake.”
“We also apologise to our partners, Bella Hadid, A$AP Nast, Jules Koundé, and others, for any negative impact on them and we are revising the campaign.”
