Bella Hadid. Photo: AFP / CHRISTOPHE SIMON
By Noor Nanji for BBC
Adidas has dropped the supermodel Bella Hadid, who is half Palestinian, from an advertising campaign for retro shoes referencing the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Israel had criticised the choice of Hadid. It accused her of hostility to Israel and noted that 11 Israeli athletes had been killed by Palestinian attackers at the Munich Games.
Adidas subsequently apologised and said it would "revise" its campaign.
Hadid has been a vocal supporter of the Palestinians and earlier this year donated money to support relief efforts for the war in Gaza.
BBC News has contacted Hadid's representatives for comment.
The German sportswear company had chosen Hadid to promote its SL72 trainers, which were first launched to coincide with the 1972 Olympics.
Adidas recently relaunched the SL72 shoes as part of a series reviving classic trainers.
However, images of the American model wearing the shoes prompted criticism, including on Israel's official account on X (formerly Twitter).
"Guess who the face of their campaign is? Bella Hadid, a half-Palestinian model," a post read on Thursday.
It referred to the attack at the 1972 games, which happened when members of the Palestinian Black September group broke into the Olympic village. In addition to the Israeli athletes, a German police officer was also killed.
Other social media users defended Hadid and called for a boycott of Adidas following the move to pull the campaign.
Adidas confirmed to AFP that Hadid had been removed from the campaign.
In a statement provided to the news agency, the company said it would be "revising the remainder of the campaign" with immediate effect.
"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."
Hadid, whose father is Palestinian property tycoon Mohamed Anwar Hadid, has been vocal in her support for people affected by the war in Gaza.
In an Instagram post in May, Hadid said she was "devastated at the loss of the Palestinian people and the lack of empathy coming from the government systems worldwide".
Last month, she and her supermodel sister Gigi donated $US1m to support Palestinian relief efforts.
The conflict in Gaza began when Hamas gunmen launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, killing about 1200 people and taking 252 back to Gaza as hostages.
Israel responded by launching a military campaign in Gaza with the aims of destroying Hamas and freeing the hostages.
More than 38,900 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.
- BBC
