US News: Bella Hadid’s Adidas Campaign Cancelled Amid Controversy
Bella Hadid’s latest Adidas campaign has been withdrawn following criticism of it being “sick” and a “grave error”.
The American supermodel was featured in the campaign for a reissued shoe from the 1972 Munich Olympics.
During those Olympics, 11 Israeli athletes and a German police officer were killed by Palestinian terrorists from the group Black September.
The backlash is due to Hadid’s strong stance against Israel, given her Palestinian heritage, and her frequent condemnation of the Israel-Hamas War on social media.
Last month, she and her sister Gigi Hadid donated $1 million to Palestinian relief efforts.
Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized Hadid’s involvement in the campaign on social media.
The American Jewish Committee urged Adidas to address this serious mistake in a post on X.
They stated: “For Adidas to choose such a vocal anti-Israel model to promote this historical Olympics event is either a major oversight or deliberately provocative. Neither option is acceptable.”
The SL 72 campaign, launched on Monday, reintroduced the “classic” trainer originally designed for Adidas athletes at the Munich Olympics.
Advertisements on Adidas platforms and a Times Square billboard featured Hadid wearing the trainers and holding flowers.
“To have her endorse a shoe commemorating an Olympics marred by so much Jewish bloodshed is simply sickening,” said Sacha Roytman, CEO of the Combat Antisemitism Movement.
Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, described Adidas’s decision as a “serious misjudgment that disrespects the victims”.
Read more from Sky News:
Next England manager must ‘win a major tournament’, FA says
Killers filmed rape of young dad after drugging him
Hello Kitty not a cat, creators reveal
Adidas has since removed ads featuring Hadid and issued a statement to Sky’s US partner network NBC News: “We are aware of the connections made to tragic historical events – though unintended – and we apologize for any distress caused.
“As a result, we are revising the rest of the campaign.”
Stay updated with the latest news from the UK and worldwide by following Sky News
Images of Hadid from the campaign have been taken down from Adidas’s social media channels and website.
Sky News has reached out to a representative for the model for a comment.
