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Adidas has removed an ad featuring American fashion model Bella Hadid promoting a line of sports shoes that was first released in the year of the 1972 Munich Olympics, following an outcry from the public over the company’s use of the model, who has been accused by the Israeli government of anti-Semitism.
Hadid, who has Palestinian roots, has been criticised in the past by the Israeli government for shouting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, which the government says is a controversial slogan used by those calling for the removal of Israel.
The 27-year-old model, a longtime Adidas brand ambassador, was one of several celebrities promoting the re-release of the Adidas SL72 shoe, which was first announced in the year of the Munich Olympics, when an attack by pro-Palestinian militants killed 11 members of the Israeli team.
Pro-Jewish groups such as the Israeli embassy in Germany and Stop Anti-Mitzivism criticized Adidas over the campaign on social media site X, citing the 1972 genocide as an example.
Adidas told the Financial Times on Friday that it was “revising the remainder of the campaign,” without providing details about the changes. Hadid’s campaign images promoting the SL 72 have disappeared from social media. Other images featuring Adidas brand ambassadors, including French soccer player Jules Koundé, US rapper A$AP Nast and Chinese model Sabrina Lan, still remained online.
“While completely unintentional, we are aware that an association has been made with a tragic historical event and we apologize for any offense or distress caused,” Adidas said in a statement.
First launched in 1972 as a lightweight running shoe, the SL 72 is one of several models that have underpinned Adidas’ commercial revival over the past year as the company attempts to recover from the crisis surrounding US rapper Kanye West.
The company raised its profit outlook for the second time this week, and its shares have outperformed U.S. rival Nike this year as new versions of classic models such as the Samba and Gazelle have become fashion icons.
Adidas ended its highly successful partnership with West in 2022 over a series of anti-Semitic comments, causing sales of its fast-growing, highly profitable Yeezy brand to plummet and resulting in millions of euros in losses. CEO Bjorn Gulden later made headlines by insisting on a podcast that West (aka Ye) “didn’t mean what he said” and was “not a bad person.”
Gulden later apologized for his comments and stressed that he was not defending West’s actions. Adidas has pledged to donate a portion of its profits from any remaining stock of Yeezy shoes to organizations that fight anti-Semitism and hate speech.
A modeling agency representing Hadid did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In October 2022, in what appeared to be a response to West’s controversial comments, she wrote, “There are people in the world that I love who happen to be Jewish who are horrified by the language that was used….To my Jewish loved ones, to the Jewish community around the world, I am here to tell you that you belong here, you have value, and you have a right to live as a human being, just like people of any other race, religion, shape or size.”
