Hadid 'shocked and upset' over adidas shoe campaign

American model Bella Hadid has spoken out after starring in an adidas campaign that has faced fierce backlash for referencing the 1972 Munich Olympics.

- ELLIE MUIR

The advertising campaign for the retro SL72s trainer has been criticised for referencing the 1972 games, where 11 Israeli athletes and one German police officer were killed in an attack by a Palestinian militant group called Black September.

Hadid, who is half-Palestinian and half-Dutch and has been vocal in her support of Palestine throughout Israel’s war on the region, said in a statement: “I am shocked, I am upset, and I am disappointed in the lack of sensitivity that went into this campaign.”

The American Jewish Committee criticised adidas for picking what they called a “vocal anti-Israel model” to “recall this dark Olympics”. The organisation said the decision was either “a massive oversight or intentionally inflammatory” but said “neither is acceptable”.

“We call on adidas to address this egregious error,” it said.

Adidas issued an apology last week, saying it was “revising” its campaign with Hadid.

Hadid said in a statement shared on Monday evening that she would “never knowingly engage with any art or work that is linked to a horrific tragedy of any kind”.