WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 12: Honoree Kim Kardashian attends the 2022 Baby2Baby Gala presented by Paul Mitchell at Pacific Design Center on November 12, 2022 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for Baby2Baby)
Kim Kardashian felt “shocked and outraged” by the recently pulled Balenciaga campaigns. Last week, the luxury retailer apologized after social media users accused them of sexualizing children in two recent campaign ads.
Before and following Balenciaga’s apology, social media users also demanded Kim speak on the campaigns. She is one of the brand’s most famous ambassadors and a mother of four kids with Kanye West. Last month, Balenciaga cut collaborator ties with Ye for unrelated reasons.
Kim broke her silence on the controversial creative visions on Sunday (November 27).
“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 said. “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.”
Several images of Balenciaga’s holiday gifting campaign featured young children with bear bags dressed in bondage gear. While the girl models seemed appropriately dressed, the bears wore netted tops, chokers, and spiked cuffs around the wrists and anklets. Elsewhere in the photos, Balenciaga promoted holiday gifts like wine glasses, a dog leash and bowl, and what looks like a flask.
Gabriele Galimberti photographed the holiday Toy Stories campaign. He told CNN that he was “not entitled in whatsoever manner to neither choose the products, nor the models, nor the combination of the same.”
Another campaign, created for a collaboration with Adidas, used documents about a court ruling related to federal child pornography laws as a prop. Unfortunately, a viral tweet by June Nicole Lapine (@shoe0onhead) incorrectly linked the campaigns during the first waves of backlash.
As stated, the brand released an apologetic statement addressing both campaigns. They admitted that the “plush bear bags should not have been featured with children” in the campaign and assured folks the campaign was removed across platforms.
Then, they apologized for “displaying unsettling documents” in the collaborative Adidas campaign. Balenciaga also claimed they’ll be pursuing legal action against “the parties responsible for creating the set and including unapproved items.”
“We strongly condemn abuse of children in any form,” their statement said. “We stand for children safety and well-being.”
In her statement, Kim expressed appreciation for the campaign removals and Balenciaga’s apology. She believes the brand understands “the seriousness of the issue and will take the necessary measures for this to never happen again.”
However, the beauty entrepreneur also revealed she’s re-evaluating her relationship with the brand given this incident.
“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,” Kim said.
Kim broke her silence days after the season finale of The Kardashians. Coincidentally, the episode centers on Kim walking in Balenciaga’s show during Fashion Week in July.
