Kim Kardashian ‘Reevaluating’ Relationship With Balenciaga After ‘Disturbing’ Child Images

Kim Kardashian West of 'The Justice Project' speaks onstage during the 2020 Winter TCA Tour Day 12 at The Langham Huntington, in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 18, 2020. (David Livingston/Getty Images)

Kim Kardashian has addressed the controversial Balenciaga holiday campaign that featured children posing with teddy bears in bondage gear and said she is reevaluating her relationship with the fashion brand.

In a statement published on her official Twitter account on Sunday, the reality television star, who has worked frequently with Balenciaga, said that she had, until now, opted not to comment on the issue “not because I haven’t been disgusted and outraged by the recent Balenciaga campaigns” but because she wanted to speak to the Balenciaga team to understand how the images were allowed to be published.

The ad campaign was shot by Italian photographer Gabriele Galimberti and shows young children standing in bedrooms and dressed in Balenciaga clothes while surrounded by a string of new Christmas products from the company, including homeware, pet accessories, and teddy bears that appear to be wearing adult bondage.

One of the images for the company’s campaign to promote its “Hourglass” handbag for its Spring 23 campaign photoshoot included a photo of a U.S. Supreme Court decision on child porn laws in the background. The ad campaign credits two photographers, Joshua Bright and Chris Maggio.

The images sparked outrage online over the decision to feature children alongside BDSM products, with many accusing the brand of promoting pedophilia.

“As a mother of four, I have been shaken by the disturbing images. 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—period,” Kardashian wrote on Sunday.

“I appreciate Balenciaga’s removal of the campaigns and apology. In speaking with them, I believe they understand the seriousness of the issue and will take the necessary measures for this to never happen again,” Kardashian wrote.

Balenciaga issues apologies on Instagram over its Balenciaga Objects and Spring 23 collection ad campaigns, on Nov. 22, 2022. (Screenshots via The Epoch Times)

Balenciaga Apologizes

Balenciaga issued an apology on Instagram shortly after the photos were published, noting that the teddy bears, called “plush bear bags,” absolutely “should not have been featured with children in this campaign” and that the fashion giant “immediately removed the campaign from all platforms.”

Kim Kardashian has worked with Balenciaga on multiple occasions, most recently modeling for its 2022 winter campaign and walking the Paris runway for the brand in July during Fashion Week. She is often photographed wearing clothes from the brand.

The reality TV star said on Sunday that she is now reevaluating her relationship with Balenciaga, but said she is “basing it off their willingness to accept accountability for something that should have never happened to begin with and the actions I am expecting to see them take to protect children.”

The Epoch Times has contacted Balenciaga for comment.

Gabriele Galimberti, the photographer for the campaign, also issued a statement on Instagram over the weekend, stating that he “was not entitled in whatsoever manner to neither choose the products, nor the models, nor the combination of the same,” and that he was “only and solely requested to light the given scene and take the shots according to my signature style.”

Meanwhile, Balenciaga on Friday filed a $25 million lawsuit against the production company North Six, Inc. and its agent, set designer Nicholas Des Jardins, over the controversial ad campaign.

In a filing with the New York State Supreme Court for the County of New York, the fashion house said it was seeking redress for “extensive damages” that North Six and Des Jardins “caused in connection with an advertising campaign Balenciaga hired them to produce,” and that the defendant’s “inexplicable acts and omissions were malevolent or, at the very least, extraordinarily reckless.”