Adidas has apologised for making pro Palestine activist and model Bella Hadid the face of its revamped 1972 Olympics shoe.
“We are conscious that connections have been made to tragic historical events - though these are completely unintentional - and we apologise for any upset or distress caused,” a spokesperson for Adidas said.
The cult shoe was originally designed for runners in the Munich Olympics, where 11 Israeli athletes and coaches were killed by Palestinian terrorist group Black September.
Liora Rez, executive director of Stop Antisemitism, told the JC she was “deeply disturbed” by Adidas’ decision to choose Bella Hadid as the face of the campaign, who she describes as holding “antisemitic” views.
Bella Hadid has been accused of “fanning the flames of antisemitism” by spreading misinformation about Israel. She has accused Israel of being an apartheid “Jewish supremacist” state and claimed “Jesus was Palestinian”.
Following the backlash, Adidas has confirmed they will be “revising the remainder of the campaign”. “We believe in sport as a unifying force around the world,” they said, “and will continue our efforts to champion diversity and equality in everything we do”.
Stop Antisemitism called Adidas’s latest choice “on par” for the company, which has previously been criticised for its relationship with Kanye West.
The company ended its creative partnership with the rapper over his “unacceptable, hateful, and dangerous” comments in October 2022.
Still, last year, Adidas Chief Executive said West “didn’t mean what he said” and that he wasn’t “a bad person – it just came across that way”. He described the end to Adidas’ creative relationship with the rapper as “very unfortunate”.
Since 2021, the rapper has praised Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. Speaking in an interview with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, he said: “There’s a lot of things I love about Hitler”. He has shared violently antisemitic posts on social media, saying he was “going death con 3 on Jewish People”.
Adidas was founded by brothers Adolf and Rudolf Dassler in Germany in 1924. Both brothers were members of the Nazi party, and during the 1936 Berlin Olympic games, many athletes sported their shoes, including American track star Jesse Owens.
