Kim Kardashian breaks silence on Balenciaga’s ‘disturbing’ campaign: ‘I’m shocked’

Kim Kardashian brought to Twitter to break the silence on the Balenciaga viral scandal on November 27th. In her first statement on the matter, Kim explained why it took her so long to say anything publicly about the brand’s controversial campaign, which featured children posing with BDSM-inspired items. “I’ve been quiet these past few days, not because I didn’t like Balenciaga’s recent campaigns, but because I wanted a chance to speak with her team to see for myself how this could have happened,” Kim wrote.

I’ve been quiet these past few days, not because I’m not disgusted and outraged by Balenciaga’s recent campaigns, but because I wanted a chance to speak with his team to see firsthand how this could have happened.

—Kim Kardashian (@KimKardashian) November 27, 2022

In recent years, Kim has formed a close relationship with Balenciaga. She attended the brand’s Paris show in July and wore the brand’s clothes on several occasions. She continued: “As a mother of four, I was shocked by the disturbing images. The safety of children must be given the utmost consideration and any attempt to normalize child abuse must have no place in our society, period. I appreciate the removal of the campaign and an apology from Balenciaga. In speaking with them, I believe they understand the gravity of the problem and will take the necessary steps to ensure this never happens again.”

Due to Kim’s close ties to Balenciaga, fans have been asking her for days to release a statement on this scandal. Based on her post, she doesn’t appear to be cutting ties with Balenciaga, despite her controversy.

In addition to the disturbing images of children with bondage-inspired teddy bears, Balenciaga’s campaign also featured court documents from a child pornography case in the background of the images. The photographer who filmed the campaign opened up about the scandal on Instagram, writing: “I have to stress that I had no right [any] way of not choosing products, or models, or their combination. As a photographer, I was only asked to light the scene and take pictures in my signature style.”

Balenciaga pulled the ad amid backlash. “We sincerely apologize for any offense our Christmas campaign may have caused,” the brand said in a statement. “Our sleeping bags should not have appeared with children in this campaign. We immediately removed the campaign from all platforms.” Balenciaga also filed a $25 million lawsuit against the ad’s producers, North Six Inc., and production designer, Nicholas Des Jardins, according to page six🇧🇷