Bella Hadid is a known Palestinian-American model, and has been outspoken against Israel. That is to say, Adidas thought it would be a good idea to use her as the model for their 1972 Olympic shoe relaunch advertisement, while the Jewish community took offense to this.
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For those who don't know, Adidas originally debuted this shoe during the '72 Olympics in Munich Germany, which was the site where 11 Israeli athletes and coaches were taken hostage and killed by Black September, a Palestinian terrorist group.
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"For Adidas to pick a vocal anti-Israel model to recall this dark Olympics is either a massive oversight or intentionally inflammatory. Neither is acceptable. We call on Adidas to address this egregious error," the American Jewish Committee said in a statement posted on X.
A spokesperson for Adidas then subsequently released a statement following all of the backlash received regarding the matter.
"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... As a result we are revising the remainder of the campaign."
"We believe in sport as a unifying force around the world," Adidas stated. "And will continue our efforts to champion diversity and equality in everything we do."
It is also a sensitive issue for some, considering the history of the company of Adidas, which was founded in 1924 by brothers, Adolf and Rudolf Dassler, who were known members of the Nazi party. Famously during the 1936 Berlin Games, the shoes were displayed for the world to see, as many of the German athletes sported the spiked running shoes, including U.S. track star Jesse Owens. As a result, the shoe became marketed in the West after the war was over.
Related: Jesse Owens' 80-Year-Old Record Finally Broken At Ohio State
