Adidas Fires Pro-Palestinian Model Bella Hadid From New Ad Campaign – Libération

The brand is parting ways with the American model of Palestinian origin, after Israeli officials were upset by her presence in an advertising campaign for a pair of sneakers emblematic of the Munich Olympics, during which an attack targeted Israeli athletes.

Adidas announced on Friday that it was removing Palestinian model Bella Hadid from a controversial advertising campaign for the reissue of a pair of retro-looking sneakers called SL72, emblematic of the 1972 Munich Olympics during which an anti-Israeli attack was committed. In the middle of the competition, eleven Israeli athletes and coaches and a German policeman were assassinated by the Palestinian commando “Black September”.

“Immediate effect”

Adidas had chosen to embody its promotional campaign the model Bella Hadid, who has Palestinian roots, has frequently participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations and, since October 7, has repeatedly condemned the Israeli bombings on Gaza. “We are aware that links have been made to tragic historical events – even if these are completely unintentional – and we apologize for the irritation or pain” that this may have caused, wrote the brand with the three stripes in a statement. The model Bella Hadid is withdrawn from the campaign with “immediate effect”, specified an Adidas spokesperson.

Supporting the Palestinian cause, Bella Hadid has taken part in several demonstrations in this regard and estimated in September 2022 in a podcast that it had cost him several contracts. “I don’t know if I’m ready to talk today. Last night I had this overwhelming feeling of anxiety that I’m not saying the right thing and not being the person that everyone wants me to be. […] “I also understood that I have studied enough, I know my family enough, I know my own history enough. And that should be enough to express my opinion,” she explained at the time. Her positions have repeatedly led to her being targeted by Israeli officials accusing her of being anti-Semitic.

Wave of criticism

This time again, the emotion was marked among Israeli officials. “Guess who is the face of the campaign? Bella Hadid, a model of Palestinian origin who has a history of spreading anti-Semitism and calling for violence against Israelis and Jews,” the Israeli Embassy in Berlin reacted strongly on Thursday on the X network. “How can Adidas now claim that the memory of this event was ‘totally involuntary’? The 1972 attack has been etched in the common memory of Germans and Israelis,” Israeli Ambassador to Germany Ron Prosor told Welt TV on Friday, after Adidas apologized.

The campaign sparked a wave of criticism on social media: “Adidas is dead to me… I will not buy anything from companies that have anything in common with anti-Semites…” wrote one user on X. The brand will continue to promote its vintage model with other faces: Jules Koundé, a French footballer; A$AP Nast, an American rapper and songwriter; Melissa Bon, a Swiss-Ethiopian musician; and Sabrina Lan, a Chinese model and influencer who lives in Berlin.