Kim Kardashian gets candid about navigating recent backlash against Balenciaga

• Kim Kardashian spoke about the recent backlash against Balenciaga.
• She was asked why she wasn’t speaking out earlier on social media.
• The brand was accused of sexualizing children in the advertisement.

Kim Kardashian is candid about navigating the recent backlash against Balenciaga.

The 42-year-old Kardashians star spoke on the Angie Martinez IRL podcast about the public scrutiny she faced after the release of the brand’s controversial holiday campaign featuring children holding teddy bears in bondage.

“With the Balenciaga thing… everyone was like, ‘Why aren’t you speaking out? Why aren’t you speaking out?’ And I’m like, ‘Wait. I’m not in this campaign,” Kardashian told Martinez. “I don’t know what’s happening. Let me take a minute to like research this.”

“And then as soon as I saw what everyone was seeing on the internet and the reality of the situation, I completely spoke out and gave my thoughts,” she added.

Kardashian released a lengthy statement on social media more than a week after the campaign’s release, condemning it and stating that she would reconsider her relationship with the brand. However, she noted that was still insufficient for some, as she continued to face online hatred.

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“But because I didn’t say, ‘F— you, Balenciaga. That’s it,’ people got mad at that,” she explained on the podcast. “So they’re mad if I don’t speak out. They’re mad if I do speak out, and if I don’t cancel.”

The reality star stated that it was difficult to deal with the situation knowing that “no matter what you can’t win.”

“You don’t want to be a part of the narrative, but you’re brought in,” Kardashian explained. “But then I have to take responsibility and say, ‘Okay, people look at me as the face of this, so let me speak out.’ I just always want to do the right thing.”

The campaign was released by Balenciaga on November 16, and social media users were quick to accuse the brand of sexualizing children in the advertisement. Within a week of the campaign’s release, its photographer Gabriele Galimberti issued a statement stating that he “was not entitled in whatsoever manner to neither chose [sic] the products, nor the models, nor the combination of the same.”

Balenciaga then issued a statement on Nov. 24, saying, “We sincerely apologize for any offense our holiday campaign may have caused. Our plush bear bags should not have been featured with children in this campaign. We have immediately removed the campaign from all platforms.”

In a lengthy statement issued four days later, the luxury fashion house added that it “takes responsibility” for its “series of grave errors” regarding the campaign and that it will implement “new controls” to prevent it from happening again. Additionally, the company stated that it was reaching out to “organizations who specialize in child protection and aim at ending child abuse and exploitation.”

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