‘I would never knowingly engage in any art or work that is linked to a horrific tragedy of any kind,’ the supermodel said after facing backlash over Adidas campaign
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Supermodel Bella Hadid posted a statement about her recent involvement in an Adidas campaign that relaunched a shoe from the Munich Olympics in 1972, when Israeli athletes were killed in an attack by Palestinian terrorists.
“I would never knowingly engage in any art or work that is linked to a horrific tragedy of any kind,” she wrote in an Instagram story.
“In advance of the campaign’s release, I had no knowledge of the historical connection to the atrocious events in 1972. I am shocked, I am upset, and I am disappointed in the lack of sensitivity that went into this campaign. Had I been made aware, from the bottom of my heart, I would never have participated.”
“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,” her statement continued, adding that the “collective lack of understanding from all parties undermined the process.”
“I do not believe in hate in any form, including antisemitism,” she said.
In a July 15 press release that is no longer available online, Adidas said the SL 72 sneaker was first unveiled in 1972 and was the “spark plug that initiated a paradigm shift in the realm of running shoes.”
“We apologize for any upset or distress caused,” the statement said. “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.”
The campaign has since been pulled.
Adidas CEO Bjorn Gulden acknowledged the blunder on an earnings call, Bloomberg reported.
“We did the mistake in the way that bits and pieces in this campaign were put together and when you do a mistake, you apologize and you move on — and that’s what we did,” he said.
He said Hadid was “still a friend of the brand” and that she is paid “according to a contract.”
“Antisemitism has no place in the liberation of the Palestinian people,” Hadid asserted in her statement.