It is understandable why Adidas would want to feature in a new campaign a supermodel who has 61.3 million Instagram followers.
And perhaps Adidas did not make a connection between Bella Hadid being a proud Palestinian and the 1972 Munich Olympics, where Palestinian terrorists murdered Israeli athletes when the company cast her for their 1972 Munich Olympic Anniversary ad campaign that brought back the SL72 OG sneaker.
The problem is Hadid and her famous family spread propaganda and antisemitic blood libels to their collective hundreds of millions of followers online.
Understandably so, many were outraged at Adidas for making her the face of a campaign linked to an Olympics that is only remembered for a tragic terror attack on Israeli athletes. A Palestinian terror group called Black September took hostage and then brutally murdered eleven Israeli athletes inside the Olympic Village.
Honestreporting breaks down Hadid’s trail of dangerous misinformation and what happened at the 1972 Munich Olympics:
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It is quite unbelievable how an entire advertisement and creative team, as well as Adidas executives, sat around a table in preparation for this campaign, probably for weeks or months, and no one vetoed the idea of Hadid as the face of it.
One would have to live under a rock to not know that her name is synonymous with terror propaganda. Many see her as an antisemite who promotes the ‘resistance’ of Palestinians against Israel and she has not directly condemned Hamas, just “violence.”
It’s not just a flop, especially considering that the 1972 Olympics took place in Germany and Adidas is a German company. One would think those kinds of implications would have been taken into consideration or known, as any other social cause, at the very least.
But you wouldn’t know any of this if you were an avid Guardian, BBC or Los Angeles Times reader. Unlike what has been spread and what the real problem is (stated above), the State of Israel is being singled out as the reason for Adidas’ apology and decision to pull the ad. They present Israel as being angry that a sportswear company is using a Palestinian model for their campaign.
The Guardian and BBC: Adidas drops Hadid due to “Israeli criticism”
Perhaps the most incriminating articles are the ones blaming this tweet from Israel’s official X (formerly Twitter) account alone for Adidas’ ‘revision’ of their advertisement campaign:
.@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… pic.twitter.com/IgdGq2OLmd
— Israel ישראל (@Israel) July 18, 2024
Israel’s official account on X said it objected to Hadid as “the face of [the Adidas] campaign”… Hadid has repeatedly criticised the Israeli government and supported Palestinians over the years and on 23 October made a statement on Instagram lamenting the loss of innocent lives while calling on followers to pressure their leaders to protect civilians in Gaza.
It seems that The Guardian wants its readers to connect only Israel with backlash, while in reality, it was widespread and viral within hours. The American Jewish Committee among other Jewish groups issued statements, demanding accountability from the major sportswear company, and individuals also immediately expressed anger and outrage.
At the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, 12 Israelis were murdered and taken hostage by Palestinian terrorist group Black September.
For Adidas to pick a vocal anti-Israel model to recall this dark Olympics is either a massive oversight or intentionally inflammatory. Neither is… https://t.co/kNWw2cIsB9
— American Jewish Committee (@AJCGlobal) July 18, 2024
But both BBC and The Guardian have decided that Israel is solely responsible, so much so that it is included in their headlines.
The BBC went further by suggesting it was due to her Palestinian background:
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 Ms Hadid. It accused her of hostility to Israel and noted that 11 Israeli athletes had been killed by Palestinian attackers at the Munich Games.
There is no mention of Hadid or her family’s years-long history of anti-Israel statements or false claims, the backlash her brother received for saying he wants Israelis to all be “erased” in May 2021 or her father suggesting that an early Israeli airstrike post October 7 was a genocide on Gazans, without giving any context to the strike in question. The list goes on, but somehow this context is deemed irrelevant to either article.
As written above, The Guardian only mentions Hadid’s criticism of “the Israeli government” and support of Palestinians. That’s putting it lightly, considering she has attended a protest chanting, “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” in May 2021. The post was originally on her Instagram page, but has since expired or been removed.
Where does she say this?
— Tammi (@Tammi on the Spoutible🐳🐋, come on over!) (@TLaTela) May 16, 2021
The Los Angeles Times Downplays Hadid’s History of Anti-Israel Statements
Moving in the same sentiment, the LA Times also downplays the supermodel’s libelous anti-Israel sentiments.
The controversy follows the sportswear company’s decision to hire Hadid, who is Palestinian American and vocal about her advocacy for Palestinian relief efforts… Adidas faced criticism from Jewish organizations and Israel for aligning the SL72 campaign with a model known for her pro-Palestinian sentiments.
It isn’t enough for the media to tell one side of this story. That would block the public from proper context and transparency as to why Hadid as the face of the SL72 Adidas campaign is problematic.
Being an Israeli Olympic athlete inevitably comes with baggage and responsibility. Any time an Israeli represents Israel abroad publicly, no matter how apolitical, he or she understands the weight of that. This year is especially significant – we saw that with Israeli singer Eden Golan at Eurovision, and we are seeing it now with calls to ban Israel from the 2024 Paris Olympics, and even death threats being sent to athletes.
For the media to treat this topic so insensitively, and so biasedly, fans the flames of antisemitism and makes being an Israeli or a Jew more dangerous. It is unethical to downplay the celebrity at the center of this campaign’s problematic reputation for the sake of a narrative.
Dan Wolken of USA Today made a clear point, which truly captures the reason why the Adidas SL72 campaign received such harsh reactions:
Imagine living your whole life knowing that the dream you train every day to achieve is inexorably linked to one of the most traumatic events in your country’s history when 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team lost their lives during a terror attack at the 1972 Munich Games.
He also writes that this year is more emotional for Israeli athletes set to compete in Paris this summer, after nine months of “grief and chaos,” since the October 7 massacre carried out by the Hamas terror group and their allies.
Where was your head, Adidas? Where is your integrity, media?
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Image Credits: Bella Hadid – Dimitrios Kambouris via Getty Images, Israeli Victims of Munich Olympics Massacre – Getty Images, Hand with key – AlliesTroop via Shutterstock, The watermelon – Muslimobserver
