Bella Hadid Apologizes for Olympic Ad: ‘Adidas Should Have Known’

Supermodel Bella Hadid blasted Adidas’s lack of preparation and admitted her team should have done more diligence for an ill-fated shoe campaign tied to the Olympics.

The campaign, launched in March, drew criticism earlier this month for commemorating the 1972 Munich Olympic Games—the same Olympics in which 11 Israeli athletes and coaches were killed during a terrorist attack carried out by Palestinian militant group Black September. Hadid, who is Palestinian, was one of the spokespeople for the SL 72 rollout. She has become known for advocating for pro-Palestinian causes along with her sister Gigi and is a harsh critic of Israel.

In a statement posted on her Instagram story Monday night, Hadid said she “had no knowledge of the historical connection to the atrocious events in 1972.” She said that Adidas and her team “should have known” and that she should have done “more research.”

“I am shocked, I am upset, and I am disappointed in the lack of sensitivity that went into this campaign,” Hadid said. “Had I been made aware, from the bottom of my heart, I would never have participated.” Hadid went on to say that “connecting the liberation of the Palestinian people to an attack so tragic, is something that hurts my heart. Palestine is not synonymous with terrorism, and this campaign unintentionally highlighted an event that does not represent who we are. … I will forever stand by my people of Palestine while continuing to advocate for a world free of antisemitism.”

The statement is the first time Hadid has publicly acknowledged the controversy. Last week, however, reports surfaced that Hadid had retained legal counsel to potentially sue Adidas for involving her in a campaign that could tarnish her reputation. Representatives for Hadid did not respond to an emailed request from Front Office Sports for comment at the time. 

Adidas, for its part, issued two separate apologies over a period of several days: one saying the campaign’s connection to the terrorist attack was unintentional, and another apologizing to its own spokespeople, including Hadid, for affiliating them with the advertisements.

Adidas took down its social media posts of the ad campaign, though the SL 72 shoe line is still available for purchase.

The botched campaign is the most recent in a decades-long list of controversies between the German shoe company and the Jewish community. In the past two years alone, Adidas came under fire for designing soccer jerseys with numbers looking similar to the logo for the Schutzstaffel (“SS”), a Nazi paramilitary group, and for being slow to drop Ye (formerly Kanye West) after he went on multiple antisemitic rants.