Bella Hadid has hired a legal team in the wake of her retracted Adidas SL72 sneaker campaign after she was dropped from the ad following backlash, Daily Mail reports.
Last week Adidas dropped vocal pro-Palestinian model Bella, 27, from an advertising campaign for retro trainers referencing the 1972 Munich Olympics, which were overshadowed by a massacre of Israeli athletes.
Now Bella Hadid is hiring a legal team in the aftermath of the controversy. She is citing the brand’s lack of accountability for its role in the backlash, a source has told DailyMail.
Adidas recently relaunched the SL72, a sneaker first showcased by athletes at the 1972 games, as part of a series reviving its classics.
Bella is still under contract with the company and Adidas has apologized, insisting it never meant to reference the tragedy and announcing plans to revise the advertisement.
A source told TMZ Bella is troubled that Adidas would release a campaign that would connect someone to a tragedy such as the Munich Massacre; and a source also told Us Weekly that ‘violence is not consistent with Bella’s views.’
Eleven Israeli athletes and a German police officer were killed at the 1972 Munich Games after gunmen from Black September broke into the Olympic village and took them hostage.
Hadid, who was born in the US and is the daughter of Palestinian real estate developer Mohamed Hadid, has long been vocal about her support for Palestinian rights.
On July 19, Adidas said it would be ‘revising the remainder of the campaign’ with immediate effect, without specifying how.
‘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 company said in a statement.
The explanation continued: ‘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.’
Pictures of the model wearing the red, retro Adidas footwear prompted an outcry among pro-Israeli groups.
On Sunday morning, the Adidas Originals Instagram account posted a statement in reference to the uproar via the app’s Stories feature.
They apologized to Hadid and several other partners for ‘any negative impact’ they may have incurred.
It began: ‘Connections continue to be made to the terrible tragedy that occurred at the Munich Olympics due to our recent SL71 campaign.’
The message went on to say, ‘These connections are not meant and we apologise 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.’