Adidas has issued a second apology after featuring anti-Israel model Bella Hadid in a campaign marking the 52nd anniversary of the Munich Olympics, during which terrorists murdered 11 Israeli athletes and coaches.
This time, the company apologized to Hadid herself after it removed her from the campaign following the backlash against it.
In a statement posted to the Adidas Originals Instagram Stories on Sunday, the company wrote, "Connections continue to be made to the terrible tragedy that occurred at the Munich Olympics due to our recent SL72 campaign. These connections are not meant and we apologize for any upset or distress caused to communities around the world. We made an unintentional mistake."
"We also apologize to our partners, Bella Hadid, A$AP Nast, Jules Koundé, and others, for any negative impact on them and we are revising the campaign," it added
Last week, Adidas apologized for the ad campaign starring Hadid after Jewish groups blasted the company for featuring the model, who has a history of spreading anti-Israel and antisemitic hate to her many followers on social media.
Adidas spokesman Stefan Pursche told The Washington Times that “we apologize for any upset or distress caused” by the ads.
“We are conscious that connections have been made to tragic historical events — though these are completely unintentional — and we apologize for any upset or distress caused,” Pursche said.
“As a result, we are revising the remainder of the campaign. We believe in sport as a unifying force around the world and will continue our efforts to champion diversity and equality in everything we do,” he added.
Pursche did not specify, however, whether Adidas would remove Hadid from the ads and only noted that the campaign uses “a broad range of partners to celebrate our lightweight running shoe,” including American rapper ASAP Nast.
The Combat Antisemitism Movement had called on Adidas to “apologize for this decision and drop Hadid immediately.”
The statement referred to the company's slow response to antisemitic tirades by rapper Kanye West and statements by Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden, who said in a podcast he doubted that West “meant what he said” when he made the antisemitic remarks.
ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt later said that Gulden had apologized for those comments.