Bella Hadid Addresses Adidas’ Controversial Olympic Campaign: 'Shocked'

Bella Hadid finally broke her silence after Adidas pulled her from an Olympics ad campaign inspired by a design from the 1972 Munich Games.

“I would never knowingly engage with any art or work that is linked to a horrific tragedy of any kind,” Hadid, 27, wrote via her Instagram Story on Monday, July 29. “In advance of the campaign’s release, I had no knowledge of the historical connection to the atrocious events in 1972.”

Hadid was referring to the tragedy at the 1972 Munich Olympics, wherein the Palestinian terrorist group Black September took 11 Israeli athletes and coaches hostage. The ensuing massacre took the lives of every hostage and one German police officer.

“I am shocked, I am upset, and I am disappointed in the lack of sensitivity that went into this campaign,” Hadid, who is of Palestinian heritage, continued in her statement. “Had I been made aware, from the bottom of my heart, I would never have participated. My team should have known, Adidas should have known and I should have done more research so that I too would have known and understood, and spoken up.”

Adidas’ “SL72” campaign was inspired by a sneaker released in the same year as the 1972 Olympics. The ad showed Hadid sporting the sneakers while holding a bouquet of flowers as she stood in front of a red backdrop. “Giving Bella Hadid her flowers in the SL 72,” Adidas wrote via X on July 21 before deleting the campaigns from social media.

The German sportswear brand released an apology later that day, stating the campaign’s “connections” to the tragedy were an “unintentional mistake,” and that Adidas would be “revising the campaign.”

Last week, Us Weekly learned that Hadid retained litigation counsel against Adidas for “their lack of public accountability” regarding the campaign, which also received backlash from Israel and the American Jewish Committee.

During her Monday statement, Hadid noted that while the original intention of the ad was to “bring people together through art,” the “collective lack of understanding from all parties undermined the process.” Along with Hadid, the “SL72” campaign also featured A$AP Nast and Jules Koundé, among other partners.

“I do not believe in hate in any form, including antisemitism. That will never waiver, and I stand by that statement to the fullest extent,” Hadid continued. “Connecting the liberation of the Palestinian people to an attack so tragic, is something that hurts my heart. Palestine is not synonymous with terrorism and this campaign unintentionally highlighted an event that does not represent who we are.”

Hadid further said she is a “proud Palestinian woman” who will “forever stand by [her] people of Palestine” and continue “to advocate for a world free of antisemitism,” which “has no place in the liberation of the Palestinian people.”

She concluded, “I will always stand for peace over violence, any day.”