Adidas Removes Bella Hadid Campaign After American Jewish Committee Complaints

Adidas has removed an advertising campaign featuring model Bella Hadid and apologized to customers.

Bella Hadid, a 27-year-old model of Palestinian-Dutch descent, advertised the SL 72 sneakers, which were created by Adidas for the 1972 Munich Olympics. At those Games, the Palestinian terrorist organization Black September killed 11 members of the Israeli national team and a local police officer.

Adidas said after the public criticism: "We recognize that connections to tragic historical events were made [by consumers] — though they were entirely unintentional — and apologize for any upset or concern this may have caused. We are reviewing 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." The statement was quoted by USA Today.

The American Jewish Committee has spoken out about Bella Hadid's participation in an Adidas advertising campaign. They called it a "gross mistake": "Choosing a model who is openly anti-Israel to recall these tragic Olympics is either a huge oversight or a deliberate incitement. Neither is acceptable," the American Jewish Committee said on social media.

It should be noted that this is not the first "cancellation" for Bella Hadid due to her expressed position regarding Hamas attacks on Israeli territories bordering the Gaza Strip: in November 2023, Dior stopped collaborating with her. Then, Israeli model May Tager was hired in her place. At the same time, Saint Laurent recently began collaborating with Bella Hadid: she became the face of the brand and stated that it was her dream.