Fans have chastised the mother-of-four for failing to speak out against the brand in the aftermath of the ad, which featured children holding teddy bear bags accessorized with bondage gear and documents referencing a Supreme Court ruling upholding a law that criminalizes child sexual abuse images.
Fans of Kim Kardashian press Balenciaga’s muse to condemn the brand in the aftermath of the bondage ad scandal
Fans of Kim Kardashian have flooded her Instagram page with comments pleading with her to condemn Balenciaga’s ad campaign, which featured a child in a bondage-themed photoshoot.
The controversial campaign was withdrawn by the fashion house on Tuesday after a severe online backlash, and the disturbing photoshoot was removed from Instagram.
Balenciaga has a long history with the 42-year-old Kardashians star, who showed up in the brand’s winter 2022 campaign, walked in its Paris fashion show in July, and frequently wears its designs to major events.
Fans have slammed the mum-of-four for failing to speak out against the brand, and have flooded her Instagram with comments pleading with her to do so.
The founder of Skims has found herself in hot water with fans.
“Condemn balenciaga have you seen their ads? You have 4 kids!” one user wrote in the comments of a snap of Kim wearing a Balenciaga-Adidas collaboration top on Tuesday.”
The photo was shared on the same day that Balenciaga issued a statement on social media about the photoshoot, saying sorry to fans for any distress caused by the ad, which featured children holding teddy bear bags accessorized with bondage gear and documents referencing a Supreme Court ruling that upheld a law that criminalizes child sexual abuse images.
“Our plush bear bags should not have been featured with children in this campaign. We have immediately removed the campaign from all platforms,” the statement read.”
It continued: “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.”
“We strongly condemn abuse of children in any form. We stand for children safety and well-being.”
One of the photos in the shoot contained an excerpt from the 2008 US Supreme Court opinion in United States v. Williams, which upheld part of a federal child pornography law, as confirmed by Twitter’s fact-checkers.
The ruling determined that offering or requesting to transfer, sell, deliver, or trade child pornography did not violate the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, even if the person charged under the code did not actually have child pornography to trade.
Kim posted on Friday about visiting a juvenile detention center with Tristan Thompson for a “friendsgiving” meal, but fans weren’t buying it and took to the comments section to blast the fashion mogul for remaining silent.
“I see more comments about you supporting a pedophilic fashion line than people congratulating on your lame thanksgiving. Why don’t you speak up instead of trying to ignore it?” one follower wrote. [sic]
“Would like to see a comment about balenciaga before seeing this. Your silence on this is topic deafening,” annother comment read.
Another commented: “This isnt going to make us forget about balenciaga!!!!! Say something,” while a third urged: “Speak up about balenciaga.”
“Balenciaga Kim. We aren’t shutting up about this,” one person warned, while another questioned: “Where is the statement about balenciaga?”
