Model Bella Hadid said she did not know about the historical context of the 1972 Olympics when Adidas asked her to be the face of its revamped 1972 Olympics shoe.

The sports giant faced a huge backlash over the decision to cast her as the face of the shoe and was forced to pull its campaign following criticism.

The 27-year-old model, who is of Palestinian descent, said she did not know about the 1972 Olympics, where 11 Israeli athletes and coaches were killed by Palestinian terrorist group Black September.

The cult shoe re-launched by Adidas was originally designed for runners in the Munich Olympics.

And Bella Hadid has been accused by antisemitism campaigners of “fanning the flames of antisemitism” by spreading misinformation about Israel.

Hadid has accused Israel of being an apartheid “Jewish supremacist” state and claimed, “Jesus was Palestinian”.

Speaking out for the first time since the controversy the model said she would "never knowingly engage with any art or work that is linked to a horrific tragedy of any kind.”

In a statement posted to Instagram, she said: "I am shocked, I am upset, and I am disappointed in the lack of sensitivity that went into this campaign.

"Had I been made aware, from the bottom of my heart, I would never have participated."

She said her team and Adidas "should have known" and she should have done more research and "spoken up."

Bella Hadid's statement on Instagram (Photo: Instagram)

She added: "While everyone's intentions were to make something positive, and bring people together through art, the collective lack of understanding from all parties undermined the process.

I do not believe in hate in any form, including antisemitism. That will never waiver, and I stand by that statement to the fullest extent."

The US supermodel had been the face of the campaign for the relaunched shoe.

Bella Hadid (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

Following the backlash, Adidas confirmed they would be “revising the remainder of the campaign”. “We believe in sport as a unifying force around the world,” they said, “and will continue our efforts to champion diversity and equality in everything we do”.

At the time Stop Antisemitism called Adidas’s choice to feature Hadid “on par” for the company, which has previously been criticised for its relationship with Kanye West.

The company ended its creative partnership with the rapper over his “unacceptable, hateful, and dangerous” comments in October 2022.

Since 2021, West has praised Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. Speaking in an interview with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, he said: “There’s a lot of things I love about Hitler”. He has also shared violently antisemitic posts on social media, saying he was “going death con 3 on Jewish People”.

Adidas was founded by brothers Adolf and Rudolf Dassler in Germany in 1924. Both brothers were members of the Nazi party, and during the 1936 Berlin Olympic games, many athletes sported their shoes, including American track star Jesse Owens.