Adidas announced Friday that it had removed ardent pro-Palestinian model Bella Hadid from an ad campaign for retro trainers commemorating the 1972 Munich Olympics, which were overshadowed by a massacre of Israeli participants.
The German sportswear company has resurrected the SL72, a shoe first worn by competitors at the 1972 Olympics, as part of a series restoring ancient classic trainers.
Eleven Israeli athletes and a German police officer were slain at the 1972 Munich Games when gunmen from the Palestinian Black September organisation burst into the Olympic village and kidnapped them.
Hadid, who was born in the United States but has Palestinian ancestry through her father, has been outspoken in her support for Palestinian rights since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 sparked the Gaza conflict.
Adidas stated that it will 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,” the business stated in a statement issued on Friday.