Jennie's Adidas collab draws boycott calls over Israeli military amputee ad
Jennie's Instagram is flooded with '#boycottadidas' and 'Free Palestine' comments after Adidas Israel cast an IDF veteran in a Single Shoe Service ad.
Campaign photos, then controversy
OA Entertainment released campaign photos for Adidas Originals by Jennie on September 7. That same day, Adidas issued a public apology over a separate Israeli promotion. The collection had already launched globally on September 1, following what Jennie called a year of hands-on work. "I have worked hard on this for the past year," she said, describing it as "a dream-like project." This was her first collaboration where she directly participated in product planning and design, a shift from her years as a global ambassador.
The backlash has nothing to do with how the collection looks. It stems from Adidas Israel's Single Shoe Service—a promotion that launched in Europe in January, selling one shoe at half the price of a pair to customers with amputated limbs. For the Israeli local campaign, Adidas cast Shalev Biton, a former IDF soldier who lost his left leg in May 2021 when his vehicle was struck by a missile during an engagement with Hamas near Gaza. He appeared alongside disabled athletes.
Adidas apologizes; boycott spreads to Jennie's page
On September 7, Adidas released a statement acknowledging that "images used in our recent local promotion in Israel have raised concerns and strong reactions" and apologized to those affected. The company stressed the ad was a local promotion planned by the Israeli subsidiary, not a global campaign. Adidas Arabia, the Middle East regional division, posted its own message on September 8, saying the company never intended "to cause harm or discomfort to anyone."
The apologies haven't stopped anything. #boycottadidas is spreading across social media. Overseas users are leaving "Free Palestine" comments and Palestinian flag emojis directly on Jennie's Instagram post announcing the collaboration, alongside calls for her to end the partnership.
The numbers behind the reaction: WHO figures put amputation surgeries in Gaza at between 5,000 and 6,000 as of October last year, when Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire agreement. The International Rescue Committee reported that one quarter of amputation patients in Gaza over the past two years were children.
(Jennie has not publicly responded to the calls to drop the collaboration.)
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