Following backlash over her participation in a controversial Adidas campaign, Bella Hadid issued an emotional response on Monday night.
In a lengthy post on Instagram stories, the model addressed her involvement in the “SL 72” running campaign that was meant to honor the 1972 Olympics in Munich, the same event in which 11 Israeli athletes were murdered in a terrorist attack from the Palestinian terrorist group Black September.
“I would never knowingly engage with any art or work that is linked to a horrific tragedy of any kind,” Hadid wrote. Prior to the campaign’s release, she said she had no knowledge of the connection to the “atrocious” events that occurred in 1972. “I am shocked, I am upset and I am disappointed by the lack of sensitivity that went into this campaign,” Hadid wrote in the statement.
The model said that had she been made aware of the situation, she would have declined to take part in the campaign. “My team should have known, Adidas should have known and I should have done more research so that I too would have known and understood, and spoken up.”
Hadid wrote that she doesn’t believe in hate in any form, including antisemitism. “That will never waiver, and I stand by that statement to the fullest extent.”
The Palestinian American also denounced the connection between Palestinian liberation and the tragic attack. “Palestine is not synonymous with terrorism, and this campaign unintentionally highlighted an event that does not represent who we are. I am a proud Palestinian woman, and there is so much more to our culture than the things that have been equated over the past week.”
As reported, on July 18, Adidas said it would revise the campaign in the wake of the controversy.
“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,” Adidas said in a statement. “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.”
A number of individuals and groups, including the pro-Israel American Jewish Committee, spoke out online about the campaign — and Hadid’s role in it — following its release. “For Adidas to pick a vocal anti-Israel model to recall this dark Olympics is either a massive oversight or intentionally inflammatory. Neither is acceptable,” said the organization in a July 18 statement on X.
