Adidas expressed remorse to model Bella Hadid after they pulled her recent Olympics ad campaign that was inspired by the 1972 Munich games.
Us Weekly reported on Saturday, July 20, that Hadid, 27, hired lawyers to take legal action against Adidas “for their lack of public accountability” for putting out a campaign that “would associate anyone with the death and violence of what took place at the 1972 Munich Games.”
The German sportswear brand said in a statement to TMZ on Sunday, “Connections continue to be made to the terrible tragedy that occurred at the Munich Olympics due to our recent SL72 campaign. These connections are not meant and we apologize for any upset or distress caused to communities around the world.”
“We made an unintentional mistake. We also apologize to our partners, Bella Hadid, A$AP Nast, Jules Koundé, and others, for any negative impact on them and we are revising the campaign,” the shoe label added.
Hadid, Nast, and Koundé had been a part of the Adidas “SL72” campaign where they modeled sneakers that were inspired by the 1972 Munich Olympics. The shoes were first released in 1972 to equip the athletes competing in the summer games.
The games held that year were particularly tragic, as a horrific massacre took place just a week into the multi-sport event. Eight members of the Palestinian Black September militant group took 11 Israeli athletes and coaches hostage, with all victims being subsequently murdered. A West German police officer was also killed.
The ad received backlash for including Hadid, who is of Palestinian heritage, from the American Jewish Committee, as well as the State of Israel.
Adidas released a separate statement regarding the criticism on Friday, apologizing for the direction of the advertisement and noting that they will be “revising the remainder of the campaign.”
“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,” they said.
“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,” they continued.
The American Jewish Committee slammed the advertisement on Thursday, demanding that the company change the “egregious error” they made when creating a campaign that “recall[ed] this dark Olympics.”
Hadid has yet to release a statement regarding the campaign controversy.
