Kim Kardashian is speaking up about Balenciaga’s recent controversial ad campaign.
The Kardashians star, 42, who frequently collaborates with Balenciaga, broke her silence Sunday after many accused the brand of sexualizing children in their recent holiday ad, which appears to show kids holding teddy bears dressed in bondage.
“I have been quiet for the past few days, not because I haven’t been disgusted and outraged by the recent Balenciaga campaigns,” she started in the statement on Twitter. “But because I wanted an opportunity to speak to their team to understand for myself how this could have happened.”
“As a mother of four, I have been shaken by the disturbing images. The safety of children must be held with the highest regard, and any attempts to normalize child abuse of any kind should have no place in our society — period.”
“I appreciate Balenciaga’s removal of the campaigns and apology. In speaking with them, I believe they understand the seriousness of the issue and will take the necessary measures for this to never happen again,” Kardashian concluded in the statement, which was also shared to her Insta Story. Kardashian also said she would be “reevaluating my relationship with the brand.”
Her post comes after Kardashian received a flood of comments urging her to condemn the brand after she posted a photo of herself modeling a shirt from the brand’s collab with Adidas.
I have been quiet for the past few days, not because I haven’t been disgusted and outraged by the recent Balenciaga campaigns, but because I wanted an opportunity to speak to their team to understand for myself how this could have happened.
— Kim Kardashian (@KimKardashian) November 27, 2022
Balenciaga reportedly wiped its social media activity clean after issuing an apology in response to the controversy and removing the images from all platforms on Tuesday, according to Insider.
“We sincerely apologize for any offense our holiday campaign may have caused. Our plush bear bags should not have been featured with children in this campaign,” the brand said in the statement, noting that they strongly condemn the “abuse of children in any form.”
The shoot’s photographer Gabriele Galimberti issued an apology on Instagram, claiming he “was not entitled in whatsoever manner to neither chose[sic] the products, nor the models, nor the combination of the same.”
Meanwhile, Balenciaga has filed a $25 million lawsuit against production company North Six, Inc. and set designer Nicholas Des Jardins over the alleged inclusion of legal documents from a U.S. Supreme Court decision on child porn laws in photos from the campaign, according to the New York Post.
[via]
