Kim Kardashian not severing Balenciaga ties after photo shoot child abuse accusations

by Jacob Fuller

Vicky Arias, FISM News

 

After six days, Kim Kardashian broke her silence surrounding a deeply disturbing ad campaign issued by the fashion house Balenciaga, which Kardashian has promoted in the past.

Kardashian took to Twitter yesterday, posting a series of tweets regarding the recent scandal.

“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 tweeted before stating that “any attempts to normalize child abuse of any kind should have no place in our society.”

The fashion mogul concluded by explaining that she is “currently re-evaluating [her] relationship with the brand.”

Last week, Balenciaga released an ad campaign for their Spring 2023 fashion line. Two of the photo shoots from that campaign have been condemned as child abuse and exploitation.

The photos include toddlers holding teddy bears that are dressed in sexually suggestive bondage outfits and a handbag sitting on top of a Supreme Court document regarding a child pornography case.

Conservative commentator, Candace Owens, condemned Kardashian’s delay in speaking out about the scandal.

“It only took 6 days for [Kim Kardashian] to not actually condemn Balenciaga for child pornography,” Owens tweeted, “because although she was disgusted and outraged — money is money and sometimes you gotta let child pornography fly for free clothes and money.”

On his cable television show on Tuesday night, Tucker Carlson said,

Balenciaga rolled out a new ad campaign this week … one photograph showed a picture of a very young girl lying face down on a couch with candles, empty wine glasses, and a dog collar on a coffee table in front of her. Another picture showed the same girl, a toddler, holding a teddy bear dressed in sexual bondage gear … and then, another picture showed pages from a Supreme Court opinion that struck down a law designed to fight child pornography. Whoever staged the photoshoot made certain to include a portion of that [document] that used the word ‘sex’ or ‘sexual’ four times.”

After the backlash, Balenciaga pulled the ad campaign and apologized, saying the company wasn’t aware of the set design.

“We apologize for displaying unsettling documents in our campaign. 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,” Balenciaga said in a statement.

Reality star Bethenny Frankel, who has been a part of many photo shoots, expressed disbelief that the company was unaware of the details of the ad.

“I find it very difficult to believe the story of this shoot was not made abundantly clear,” Frankel said on her Instagram page.

On Friday, Balenciaga filed a $25 million lawsuit suing the production company and set designer of the campaign.

The suit claims “that [the] defendants’ inexplicable acts and omissions were malevolent or, at the very least, extraordinarily reckless.”

One of the photographers, Gabriele Galimberti, who was involved in shooting the campaign claimed he had no input in the ad or in “the direction of the campaign,” according to CNN.

Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, criticized celebrities for not speaking out.

“This just shows you [that] celebrities are controlled. You don’t see [any] celebrities talking about the Balenciaga situation,” Ye recently told reporters, according to Newsweek.

“All these celebrities out here, don’t let them influence you in any way, because they’re … controlled by people who really influence the world.”

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