Kim Kardashian has spoken out about her relationship with Balenciaga following backlash to an ad campaign featuring children.
As reported by the New York Post, many social media users have been left "disturbed" after an ad for the fashion brand showed images of children holding teddy bears that appeared to be wearing "bondage outfits".
The images quickly went viral on social media, with one person tweeting: "Balenciaga is very much cancelled in my eyes, I don’t care what explanation they come up with. don’t mess with children."
A second added: "Got rid of all my Balenciaga this weekend. I loved that brand but no apology can ever be enough for what they let happen. Cancelled for good."
And a third wrote: "I thought people were trolling, but nope. It’s real. Maybe this is why Balenciaga left Twitter. They don’t want to be held accountable. Yes, these are children holding teddy bears dressed in bondage outfits."
On Tuesday, the company issued an apology to its Instagram account, writing: "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."
The company added: "We strongly condemn abuse of children in any form. We stand for children’s safety and well-being,” the company concluded."
Amid scrutiny of the contentious campaign, one eagle-eyed watchdog spotted the high court documents about child pornography laws.
Additionally, the fashion brand has reportedly launched a $25 million lawsuit against the producers of that particular ad campaign.
The Manhattan Supreme Court summons states that Balenciaga is seeking legal action "to seek redress for extensive damages defendants caused in connection with an advertising campaign Balenciaga hired them to produce."
Now Kim Kardashian - who has a professional relationship with the fashion brand - has spoken out after fans called for her to cut ties with Balenciaga.
In a statement posted to Twitter, the 42-year-old mom-of-four wrote: "I have been quiet for the past few days, not because I haven’t been disgusted and outraged by the recent Balenciaga campaigns, but because I wanted an opportunity to speak to their team to understand for myself how this could have happened."
She continued: "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."
"I appreciate Balenciaga’s removal of the campaigns and apology," Kim said in her explanation, before adding: "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 concluded her statement by saying: "As for my future with Balenciaga, I am currently re-evaluating my relationship with the brand, 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."
After revealing that she was just "re-evaluating" her relationship with the fashion brand, some of Kim's fans have been left unimpressed by her statement.
One person replied in a tweet: "Translation - I’m going to pause my business with Balenciaga, until people stop talking about it, then I’m going to continue doing business with Balenciaga."
Another tweeted: "This was Not an accident. This is deep routed. Removal of the campaign and an 'apology' does not fix the actual issue. You know this. Everyone knows this. We’re watching what you do next
@KimKardashian Show us who you are."
