Kim Kardashian has finally broken her silence on the Balenciaga advertisement campaign that featured children holding BDSM-clad teddy bears.
After nearly a week of total silence despite calls from her own fans to address the controversy, Kardashian finally condemned Balenciaga in a Twitter statement on Sunday, admitting she felt “disgusted” by the ads that sexualized children while referencing a Supreme Court child pornography case.
“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 began.
“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,” she added.
Kardashian then said she will further examine her relationship with Balenciaga as they seek to make amends for the advertisement campaign.
“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,” she said.
“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.
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.
— Kim Kardashian (@KimKardashian) November 27, 2022
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 Kardashian (@KimKardashian) November 28, 2022
Balenciaga apologized in the wake of the intense social media backlash last week, saying that the company did not approve of the pictures and they “strongly condemn abuse of children in any form.”
“We stand for children safety and well-being,” the company said. “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.”
Balenciaga filed a $25 million lawsuit against the producers of the advertisement campaign last week, per the New York Post:
The fashion house brought the suit Friday against production company North Six, Inc. and set designer Nicholas Des Jardins and his eponymous company for the inclusion in one of the ads of legal documents from a US Supreme Court decision on child porn laws.
The fashion brand ad also showed unsettling pictures of a child holding teddy bears dressed in bondage outfits. The two-page court summons doesn’t mention the BDSM teddy bears.
Balenciaga is bringing the case “to seek redress for extensive damages defendants caused in connection with an advertising campaign Balenciaga hired them to produce,” the Manhattan Supreme Court summons alleges.
the brand "Balenciaga" just did a uh….. interesting… photoshoot for their new products recently which included a very purposely poorly hidden court document about 'virtual child porn'
normal stuff pic.twitter.com/zjMN5WhZ0s
— shoe (@shoe0nhead) November 21, 2022
Both actress Nicole Kidman and model Bella Hadid have served as brand ambassadors for Balenciaga and have yet to publicly condemn the advertisement campaigns. As for Kim Kardashian, several Twitter users took her to task for waiting so long and for not outright severing ties.
Balenciaga didn’t know what their own company is doing in terms of advertising!?
Yeah, yeah, sure, sure…tell us another one.
Kardashian needs time to see how much it will effect her bottom line before cutting the cord… if she starts feeling like she’s being lumped in she’ll dump them. If not, she’ll continue banking of child exploitation…
One word… despicable!
How much money is your soul worth Kim?