(CNN) — Kim Kardashian says she is “reevaluating” her working relationship with Balenciaga after the luxury fashion house featured children hugging teddy bears dressed in bondage in his latest ad campaign.
The founder of Skims and star of reality shows, who has been an ambassador for the fashion brand, broke her silence on Sunday after receiving a deluge of messages from fans and commentators urging her to denounce the brand.
In comments posted on her social media pages, Kardashian said she had waited to speak “not because I haven’t been disgusted and outraged by Balenciaga’s recent campaigns, but because I wanted the opportunity to speak with his team to understand for myself how this could have happened.” past”.
Kim Kardashian. (Crédito: Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for Baby2Baby)
She then added that, as a mother, she was “shocked by the disturbing images.”
“Children’s safety must be given the highest consideration and any attempt to normalize child abuse of any kind must have no place in our society, period,” he told his 74.2 million followers on Twitter on Sunday.
“I appreciate the removal of the campaigns and Balenciaga’s apology. In speaking with them, I believe they understand the severity of the issue and will take steps to ensure this never happens again,” Kardashian added.
Kardashian, who wore an identity-concealing Balenciaga ensemble to the 2021 Met Gala, was among the many celebrities who walked in the Balenciaga couture show during Paris Fashion Week in July. Thursday’s season finale of “The Kardashians” focused on her walking in the Balenciaga show.
On Sunday, he addressed his future with Balenciaga in a follow-up post, writing: “I am currently reassessing my relationship with the brand, based on their willingness to accept responsibility for something that should never have happened in the first place, and the actions that I look forward to seeing them take to protect the children.”
Kim Kardashian wore a Balenciaga full coverage look at the 2021 Met Gala, on September 13, 2021. (Credit: Mike Coppola / Getty)
Balenciaga’s controversial campaign with children
Kardashian’s statement comes days after the company pulled the controversial campaign, shot by photographer Gabriele Galimberti and part of a project called “Toy Stories,” and posted an apology on its Instagram page.
“We sincerely apologize for any offense our holiday campaign may have caused,” the statement read.
“Our teddy bear bags should not have been featured with children in this campaign. We have immediately removed the campaign from all platforms.”
Galimberti told CNN in a statement Wednesday that the direction and shooting of the “Toy Stories” campaign were out of his hands, claiming that he “had no right in any way to choose (sic) the products, nor the models, nor the combination thereof”.
Balenciaga issued a new statement on Instagram apologizing for displaying “disturbing documents”, after a separate campaign featuring documents from a US Supreme Court case involving child pornography laws went viral. The company added that it planned to take “legal action against the parties responsible for creating the set and including unapproved items.”
Galimberti said that “it was not related to the photo where a Supreme Court document appears.”
Last month, Balenciaga broke ties with Kardashian’s ex-husband, rapper Kanye West, amid continuing fallout for his controversial and anti-Semitic comments.
CNN has reached out to Kering, Balenciaga’s parent company, and Kardashian’s representatives for further comment.
— CNN’s Lianne Kolirin contributed to this report.
