(UPDATE: 11/28/22 AT 9:47 P.M. ET): Balenciaga has broken its silence regarding its controversial campaign, which featured children holding teddy bears dressed in BDSM bondage by sharing a statement on its Instagram page. “We could like to address the controversies surrounding our recent ad campaigns,” the statement began. “We strongly condemn child abuse; it was never our intent to include it in our narrative. The two separate ad campaigns in question reflect a series of grievous errors for which Balenciaga takes responsibility.”‘
The statement next addressed each campaign, starting with the teddy bears dressed in bondage. “This was a wrong choice by Balenciaga, combined with our failure in assessing and validating images,” it read. “The responsibility for this lies with Balenciaga alone.”
Speaking on the spring 2023 campaign that featured a copy of a document from a Supreme Court ruling of United States v. Williams in the background — a ruling that declared child pornography illegal — the high fashion brand said the photography was meant to resemble “a business office environment.” The statement continued, “All the items included in this shooting were provided by third parties that confirmed in writing that these props were fake office documents. They turned out to be [real] papers most likely coming from the filming of a television drama. The inclusion of these unapproved documents was the result of reckless negligence for which Balenciaga has filed a complaint.”
“We take full accountability for our lack of oversight and control of the documents in the background and we could have done things differently,” Balenciaga added.
The statement concluded that ‘internal and external investigations’ are currently underway and that the company is “closely revising” itself and enhancing its “validation steps” so that nothing similar to this ever occurs again. Lastly, Balenciaga said it hopes to learn from its mistakes.
Balenciaga’s Instagram page has been wiped completely clean and only displays its apology at the time of this update.
(ORIGINAL STORY): Kim Kardashian has clarified that her future with Balenciaga is not set in stone after their controversial campaign, which featured child porn documents and children holding teddy bears dressed in bondage. “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,” Kim explained on Twitter. “And the actions I am expecting to see them take to protect children.”
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
Kim has been proudly supporting Balenciaga, modeling their clothes on the runway and out and about, for more than a year now. Her connection to the brand was heavily featured on the most recent season of The Kardashians. When the controversial ad was first released, Kim was highly criticized for not making a public statement against the fashion house. It wasn’t until after the ad was pulled that Kim finally spoke out on Nov. 27.
In her statement, Kim insisted that she was “disgusted and outraged” by the brand’s “disturbing” campaign. She said that she took a while to make any public comments because she was talking to Balenciaga’s team to understand for herself how the ads got made in the first place. “I have been shaken by the disturbing images,” Kim confirmed. “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.”
Kim concluded her message by sharing that she felt Balenciaga understands the “seriousness” of the issue with their holiday campaign. She also assured fans that she thinks the brand will take “necessary measures” to make sure that nothing like this happens again. Meanwhile, Balenciaga has pulled the ad from all platforms, and issued their own statement. “We sincerely apologize for any offense our holiday campaign may have caused,” the message read. “Our plush bear bags should not have been features with children in this campaign.”