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Kim Kardashian has spent the past decade earning the grudging respect of fashion industry icons who once dismissed her as a hyper-ambitious reality star.
Obviously, it would take a lot for her to risk that hard-won approval by criticizing one of the most respected brands in the business.
But the latest scandal involving luxury fashion house Balenciaga is so bizarre and so appalling that Kim was basically left with no choice but to distance herself from the company.
For reasons that are impossible to understand, Balenciaga recently debuted ads that show very young children holding teddy bears that are decked out in bondage gear.
Making the situation even more revolting is the fact that some of the ads feature a table scattered with documents from a Supreme Court case on child pornography.
For obvious reasons, we won’t be reproducing the images here, so you’ll just have to believe us when we say they’re as disgusting as they sound.
Kim has been partnering with Balenciaga for years, and a recent photo of her wearing a t-shirt from the brand’s Adidas collaboration prompted outrage from fans.
After days of silence, Kim finally issued a statement on Twitter over the holiday weekend.
“I have been quiet for the past few days, not because I haven’t been disgusted and outraged by the recent Balenciaga campaigns,” she tweeted.
“But because I wanted an opportunity to speak to their team to understand for myself how this could have happened.
“As a mother of four, I have been shaken by the disturbing images,” Kim continued.
“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.”
Kim says that she’s satisfied with the steps that Balenciaga has taken to rectify the situation, and she did not close the door on the possibility of working with the brand again in the future.
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“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,” she wrote.
Kardashian concluded her four-tweet thread by noting that she would be “reevaluating my relationship with the brand” before taking any additional action.
For their part, Balenciaga issued an apology after removing the offensive images from their website and social media pages.
“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,” the brand said in the statement,
Balenciaga reps added that they strongly condemn the “abuse of children in any form.”
Perhaps this was simply a case of a brand going way too far in an effort to appear “edgy.”
Or maybe the conspiracy theorists are right and a shadowy international cabal of wealthy pedophiles continues to operate in secret in the wake of Jeffrey Epstein’s death.
Whatever the case, Kim made the right move by distancing herself from this mess.
She could have done it sooner, yes, but a slow response is better than no response.
Kim is no stranger to controversy, of course.
We’re sure her career will survive this scandal, just as it has with so many others.
And perhaps the situation will prompt her to be more cautious about her business partnerships.
