Adidas drops Bella Hadid from campaign for 1972 Munich Olympics ...

Adidas said Friday it had dropped Palestinian-American supermodel and activist Bella Hadid from an advertising campaign for retro sneakers referencing the 1972 Munich Olympics, which were overshadowed by the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes by a Palestinian terror group.

The German sportswear giant recently relaunched the SL72, a shoe first showcased by athletes at the 1972 Olympics, as part of a series reviving old classic sneakers.

Eleven Israeli athletes and a German police officer were killed at the 1972 Munich Games after terrorists from the Palestinian Black September group broke into the Olympic village and took them hostage.

Hadid, who was born in the United States but has Palestinian roots through her father, has been vocal about her support for Palestinian rights since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 triggered the war in Gaza.

Amid an outcry, Adidas had earlier said it would be “revising the remainder of the campaign” with immediate effect, without giving details.

“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,” the company said in a statement.

A new campaign for Adidas features supermodel Bella Hadid wearing a reissue of sneakers from the 1972 Munich Olympics. (Photos courtesy of Adidas. Design by Jackie Hajdenberg via JTA)

A spokeswoman confirmed to AFP that Hadid had been removed from the campaign, which notes that the shoes were first introduced in 1972 but never mentions the terror attack on the Israeli athletes.

Pictures of the American model wearing the retro Adidas shoes had caused an outcry among pro-Israeli and Jewish groups.

“Guess who the face of the campaign is? Bella Hadid, a model with Palestinian roots who has spread antisemitism in the past and incited violence against Israelis and Jews,” the Israeli embassy in Germany wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday.

“How can Adidas now claim that the reference [to the events in Munich] was ‘completely unintentional’?” Ron Prosor, Israel’s ambassador to Germany, said in response to the company’s climbdown.

“The terror of 1972 is etched into the collective memory of Germans and Israelis,” he told Die Welt TV on Friday.

A member of the terrorist group which seized members of the Israeli Olympic Team at their quarters at the Olympic Village appearing with a hood over his face stands on the balcony of the building where they held members of the Israeli team hostage in Munich, September 5, 1972. (AP/Kurt Strumpf)

The American Jewish Committee also condemned the Adidas campaign on X, calling it an “egregious error.”

“For Adidas to pick a vocal anti-Israel model to recall this dark Olympics is either a massive oversight or intentionally inflammatory,” the AJC wrote. “Neither is acceptable.”

Hadid was among five celebrities, models, and athletes hired as models for the new SL72 campaign.

Adidas said it would be continuing the SL72 campaign with other famous faces including footballer Jules Kounde, singer Melissa Bon and model Sabrina Lan.

Hadid, whose father was born in Nazareth, has been a vocal activist for Palestinians since long before October 7, 2023, and frequently uses her large social media presence to advocate for and bring attention to pro-Palestinian causes. She and her sister Gigi Hadid have together donated $1 million to support multiple Palestinian relief efforts in Gaza, including HEAL Palestine, Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, World Central Kitchen, and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

Hadid has occasionally shared misinformation about the Israel-Hamas war that started on October 7 when Hamas invaded southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking 251 hostages.

Hadid has taken part in several pro-Palestinian demonstrations during the conflict and has described Israel’s offensive as a “genocide.” She has been criticized for sharing social media posts downplaying the experiences of the Israelis held hostage in Gaza.

A flood of social media posts meanwhile expressed support for Hadid, criticized Adidas for axing the model, and called for a boycott of the company.

In late 2022, Adidas ended its contract with the US rapper now known formally as Ye after he triggered an outcry with a series of antisemitic social media posts.