Pro-Palestinian model Bella Hadid breaks silence after Adidas pulls ads
Supermodel Bella Hadid has addressed her controversial Adidas ad campaign, which was pulled following backlash from Israel.
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Palestinian-American model Bella Hadid has spoken out about her involvement a controversial Adidas ad that sparked outrage.
Hadid posted a message to her Instagram Story, expressing her “disappointment in the lack of sensitivity” that went into the Munich Olympics-themed campaign.
“I would never knowingly engage with any art or work that is linked to a horrific tragedy of any kind,” she wrote.
Earlier this month, the brand unveiled an ad featuring Hadid holding a “coveted classic” sneaker from the ’70s to honour the 52nd anniversary of the Munich Olympics.
Those summer games were marred by tragedy when 11 Israeli athletes and one German police officer were killed by a Palestinian militant group.
The German sneaker giant pulled the ads with Hadid after backlash, including from the Israeli government.
Hadid – who said she was “shocked” and “upset” by the parallel – claimed to have “no knowledge of the historical connection to the atrocious events in 1972.”
“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,” the Vogue cover girl wrote.
Adidas has already apologised for the campaign and the “negative impact” on Hadid, 27, and the other models involved.
“Connections continue to be made to the terrible tragedy that occurred at the Munich Olympics due to our recent SL72 campaign,” the shoe brand said in a statement on Adidas Originals’ Instagram Story.
“These connections are not meant and we apologise for any upset or distress caused to communities around the world.”
Bella – whose father Mohammed Hadid, is Palestinian – has long been an outspoken activist for Palestinian causes and denounced the campaign’s connection to the “liberation of the Palestinian people.”
“Palestine is not synonymous with terrorism,” she wrote, “and this campaign unintentionally highlighted an event that does not represent who we are.”
“I am a proud Palestinian woman and there is so much more to our culture than the things that have been equated over the past week,” she wrote.
Hadid also denied being anti-semitic writing: “Anti-Semitism has no place in the liberation of the Palestinian people.
“I will always stand for peace over violence, any day,” she wrote.
“Hate has no place here, and I will forever advocate for not only my people, but every person world wide.”
This article originally appeared on Page Six and was reproduced with permission
Originally published as Pro-Palestinian model Bella Hadid breaks silence after Adidas pulls ads
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