Adidas shoes: Israel intervened, and ‘half-Palestinian’ supermodel Bella Hadid was removed from campaign

Adidas has removed Bella Hadid from a retro shoe advertising campaign linked to the 1972 Munich Olympics. The company dropped the who is “half-Palestinian” supermodel after criticism from Israel. Hadid has been an active supporter of Palestine.

Israel accused her of hostility and highlighted the killing of 11 Israeli athletes by Palestinian attackers at the Munich Games. Adidas then apologised and announced it would revise the campaign.

Hadid donated money for Gaza relief efforts earlier in 2024. The German sportswear company selected Hadid to promote its SL72 trainers, originally launched during the 1972 Olympics.

“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,” came from the official X (formerly Twitter) handle of Israel.

“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, any comment?” Israel asked.

"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," Adiadas told AFP while confirming the Bella Hadid had indeed been removed from the campaign.

Netizens react

Israel’s post, however, received many reactions that came in support of the supermodel.

“The world stands with Palestine,” wrote one user while another posted, “I hate to break it to you but it's okay to be Palestinian.”

“Opposing genøcide does not make you antisemitic,,,, It makes you human. Free Palestine. Thank you, Adidas,” posted another before the German company dropped Hadid from the campaign.

“Her family literally had their home stolen from Israelis in 1948, after opening up their home to refugees. You really have some audacity harassing them after the family survived as refugees, and a generation later made something of themselves,” wrote another.