Adidas Apologizes To Bella Hadid, Model Hires Legal Team To Sue Over Ad That Angered Israeli Government

Adidas has issued an apology for including Bella Hadid in their SL72 campaign. The model has reportedly hired a legal team to sue the company.

Adidas recently featured Bella Hadid – known for her outspoken support for Palestine – in a campaign for its SL72 shoes. The company tweeted an image of Hadid wearing red Adidas sneakers while holding a bouquet of flowers. The caption read, “Giving Bella Hadid her flowers in the SL72."

Initially, many celebrated Hadid's return to modeling. However, the ad quickly faced backlash after the Israeli government criticized it. The SL72 shoes are a reimagining of a design originally created for the 1972 Munich Olympics, the same year 11 Israeli athletes were killed.

On September 5, 1972, eight members of the Palestinian group Black September broke into the Olympic Village, killing two Israeli athletes and taking nine others hostage, all of whom were later killed.

It is unclear whether Adidas or Hadid's team were aware of the historical significance of the shoes. The ad was taken down shortly after the state of Israel tweeted: "@Adidas recently launched a new campaign for their shoes to highlight the 1972 Munich Olympics. Eleven Israelis were murdered by Palestinian terrorists during the Munich Olympics. Guess who the face of their campaign is? Bella Hadid, a half-Palestinian model who has a history of spreading antisemitism and calling for violence against Israelis and Jews. She and her father frequently promote blood libels and antisemitic conspiracies against Jews."

Adidas says they are now revising the SL72 campaign. This weekend, the company issued a statement to apologize for the ad: “Connections continue to be made to the terrible tragedy that occurred at the Munich Olympics due to our recent SL72 campaign. These connections are not meant, and we apologize for any upset or distress caused to communities around the world.” The German corporation added that the campaign was an "unintentional mistake" and apologized to the models involved.

"We also apologize to our partners, Bella Hadid, A$AP Nast, Jules Koundé, and others, for any negative impact on them, and we are revising the campaign," they said.

According to TMZ, their source claims Hadid has hired a legal team to sue Adidas. Their article claims, "she feels they spearheaded a cruel and damaging campaign." Hadid allegedly was unaware of the tragedy in 1972 and will be holding Adidas responsible for their neglect.

Unfortunately, the damage had been done. Many began calling Hadid a "Nazi," "anti-semitic," and numerous posts and headlines described her as "hateful."

The social media audience quickly defended the model, and even commentator Candance Owens came to the model's defense: "She is Semitic. She's Palestinian," Owens said.

Owens took the controversy to TikTok, where she explained the reasoning behind Hadid's dedication to rallying for Palestine. She goes over Hadid's family history and how they became refugees shortly after they were kicked out of their home in Palestine.

"What actually happened is that a young, half-Palestinian model whose family survived what they had been through in the past and who have the audacity to speak out about their family history are being consistently harassed for entirely no reason," Owens says in a viral TikTok video. "This campaign was not launched to commemorate the Olympics. This campaign was not lodged and spoken about in terms of anything that happened to Israelis. They simply brought back a shoe that happened to be released in the 1972 Olympics. That's it."

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