Kim Kardashian ‘Disgusted and Outraged’ by Balenciaga Holiday Campaign
Written by djfrosty on November 27, 2022
Balenciaga brand ambassador Kim Kardashian has called out the luxury fashion house for its recent holiday ad campaigns that featured children holding teddy bear bags dressed in what seemed like bondage gear. The campaign has since been taken down from all of the brand’s accounts.
“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,” the reality star tweeted on Sunday (Nov. 27).
She continued, “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.”
Kardashian went on to explain that she appreciated Balenciaga’s removal of the campaigns and apology and believes the brand understands “the seriousness of the issue” and will ensure it never happens again.
“As for my future with Balenciaga, I am currently re-evaluating my relationship with the brand, basing it off their willingness to accept accountability for something that should have never happened to begin with — & the actions I am expecting to see them take to protect children,” she concluded.
On Tuesday, the luxury fashion house took down the ad campaigns after receiving pushback on social media for the photos which included images of the children with their teddy bear bags.
“We sincerely apologize for any offense our holiday campaign may have caused,” Balenciaga said in a statement to its Instagram account. “Our plush bear bags should not have been featured with children in this campaign.”
In another statement a few hours later, the brand also addressed a separate campaign that displayed “unsettling documents” that referred to a Supreme Court case relating to child pornography laws, CNN reported.
“We apologize for displaying unsettling documents in our campaign,” Balenciaga wrote. “We take this matter very seriously and are taking legal action against the parties responsible for creating the set and including unapproved items for our Spring 23 campaign photoshoot. We strongly condemn abuse of children in any form. We stand for children safety and well-being.”
This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.