Adidas apologized on Thursday for its ad launch starring anti-Israel model Bella Hadid, who was wearing a revamped shoe from the 1972 Munich Olympics, in which Palestinian Arab terrorists murdered 11 Israeli athletes and coaches. Adidas spokesman Stefan Pursche told The Washington Times that “we apologize for any upset or distress caused” by the ads. “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,” Pursche 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,” he added. Pursche did not specify, however, whether Adidas would remove Hadid from the ads and only noted that the campaign uses “a broad range of partners to celebrate our lightweight running shoe,” including American rapper ASAP Nast. Hadid, the daughter of Jordanian real estate mogul Mohamed Hadid, has a history of spreading anti-Israel and antisemitic hate to her many followers on social media. In the past, she has spread disinformation on social media claiming: “Israel was occupying Palestinian Land for 4000 years” and “Jesus was Palestinian.” The Combat Antisemitism Movement had called on Adidas to “apologize for this decision and drop Hadid immediately.” The statement referred to the company's slow response to antisemitic tirades by rapper Kanye West and statements by Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden, who said in a podcast he doubted that West “meant what he said” when he made the antisemitic remarks. ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt later said that Gulden had apologized for those comments. Related articles: I didn't know about 1972 Olympic massacre Adidas apologizes to anti-Israel model Bella Hadid Anti-Israel model chosen as face of Munich Olympics shoe remake National soccer team redesigning numeral to avoid runic 'S' Israel’s Foreign Ministry wrote in a post on X, “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.” “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?”
