Balenciaga ambassador Kim Kardashian is talking out after the posh trend home was embroiled in controversy for its latest holiday campaign.
Kardashian launched a press release on the Balenciaga campaign, which drew backlash for referencing baby pornography and that includes baby fashions alongside fetish imagery, by way of her Instagram Story on Sunday.
The reality-television star turned magnificence mogul stated she was “shaken” by the campaign’s “disturbing images.” Kardashian added that she’s at the moment reevaluating her skilled relationship with Balenciaga.
“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,” Kardashian wrote. “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.”
She continued: “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.”
Lenny Kravitz talks trend icon standing,Kim Kardashian accepts honor at CFDA Awards (plus Cher!)
Who is the youngest Kardashian?: An in depth take a look at the Kardashian-Jenner household tree.
Balenciaga discovered itself in sizzling water when its holiday campaign drew the ire of social media customers and activists, in line with the New York Post, Cosmopolitan UK, and Fox News.
One commercial from the campaign featured baby fashions holding the model’s “plush bear bags,” teddy bears wearing bondage gear, whereas one other advert selling its “Hourglass” purse contained courtroom paperwork that referenced Supreme Court instances on baby pornography.
Balenciaga issued an apology addressing the controversy on its Instagram story Tuesday.
“We sincerely apologize for any offense our holiday campaign may have caused,” the company wrote. “Our plush bear bags should not have been featured with children in this campaign. … We strongly condemn abuse of children in any form. We stand for children safety and well-being.”
Regarding the display of court documents in its campaign, the fashion brand said it’s pursuing legal action against “the parties responsible for creating the set and including unapproved items.” The Post reported that Balenciaga filed a $25 million lawsuit Friday against production company North Six, Inc. and set designer Nicholas Des Jardins for use of the legal documents in the campaign.
The fashion house shared in an additional Instagram statement Monday that it condemns child abuse and had no intention to “embody it in our narrative.”
“The two separate advert campaigns in query replicate a collection of grievous errors for which Balenciaga takes duty,” it added.
One of these errors, according to the statement, was featuring children with plush bears bags “wearing what some have labeled BDSM-inspired outfits.” These bears “mustn’t have been featured with kids,” and the error “was a unsuitable selection by Balenciaga, mixed with our failure in assessing and validating photos.”
“The duty for this lies with Balenciaga alone,” the fashion house continued.
The second error, the statement said, was depicting an office environment containing copies of court papers from a 2008 Supreme Court case that confirmed promoting child pornography is illegal and not a protected form of free speech.
According to Balenciaga, third parties provided these documents and confirmed in writing they were “pretend workplace paperwork.” Instead, the documents were “actual authorized papers most doubtless coming from the filming of a tv drama.”
“We take full accountability for our lack of oversight and management of the paperwork within the background and we might have executed issues otherwise,” the statement continued, noting these papers prompted Balenciaga to file its $25 million lawsuit
In addition to undergoing internal and external investigations, the company said it plans on revising its ways of working, “reinforcing the constructions” around its creative processes and “laying the groundwork” with organizations dedicated to ending child abuse.
Gabriele Galimberti, one of the photographers for the campaign, also weighed in on the scandal Wednesday, saying that he had no involvement in the photoshoot’s setup.
“As a photographer, I was only and solely requested to lit the given scene and take the shots according to my signature style,” Galimberti wrote on Instagram. “As usual for a commercial shooting, the direction of the campaign and the choice of the objects displayed are not in the hands of the photographer.”
Kim Kardashian agrees to pay $1.3Mto SEC for not disclosing paid crypto endorsement
Yes, Kim Kardashian is rich: Money doesn’t protect her from robbery trauma, experts say
Contributing: Charles Trepany
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kim Kardashian speaks out on controversial Balenciaga holiday campaign
Discussion about this post