International sports apparel company Adidas has apologized for “any upset or distress caused” by including model Bella Hadid, who is considered as antisemitic and anti-Israel, in its campaign revamping the 1972 Munich Olympic sneakers.
Adidas’ SL72 advertisements feature an Adidas-clad Hadid holding flowers while showing off her sneakers.
The 1972 Olympics in Munich were overshadowed by a terrorist attack that left 11 Israeli athletes and one German police officer dead at the hands of Palestinian terrorists of the Black September group, who had infiltrated the Olympic village.
“We are conscious that connections have been made to tragic historical events—though these are completely unintentional—and we apologize for any upset or distress caused,” said Adidas in a statement on Thursday.
“As a result, we are revising 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.”
European Jewish Association chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin, who spoke to Adidas’ leadership about the campaign, said, “It was deeply insensitive and painful to see Bella Hadid, one of the most vocal and hateful inciters of antisemitism, fronting a campaign for an Adidas shoe marking the 1972 Munich Olympics—games that were made infamous by the tragic murder of 11 Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorist.”
Having spoken to the company leadership, “We appreciate the speed with which Adidas have acted,” he added. “It is a recognition that a serious mistake was made. We accept their apology and their commitment to be more mindful and careful of such sensitivities going forwards,’’ said Margolin, whose organization represents hundreds of Jewish communities across Europe.
“We welcome their decision to revise the campaign going forwards to reflect the understandable concerns raised by Jews, Israelis and large swaths of the public world-wide. We trust that this revision of the campaign will allow us all to move on from this entirely avoidable incident.”
Originally published by European Jewish Press.
