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Kim Kardashian's latest Instagram post is under fire after she broke her silence on the Balenciaga scandal.
The luxury fashion brand—founded in 1919 by designer Cristóbal Balenciaga in San Sebastian, Spain—has been criticized over two recent advertising campaigns.
Images from their holiday campaign, which circulated on social media last week, featured children holding plush bear bags that appeared to be wearing bondage accessories.
Meanwhile, another campaign for the brand's Spring 2023 collection, which also made the rounds online, included a page from United States v. Williams—a 2008 Supreme Court decision in which the court upheld a federal statute prohibiting the pandering of child pornography.
Balenciaga has since released two statements apologizing for both campaigns.
In the first, posted to their Instagram Story on November 22, the company admitted children "should not have been featured" in their holiday campaign and said they were sorry for "displaying unsettling documents" in the Spring 2023 ads.
In the second, the brand said via Instagram the "campaigns in question reflect a series of grievous errors for which Balenciaga takes responsibility."
They reiterated their comments about children in the "first campaign," noting that including them in ads with "BDSM-inspired outfits" was the "wrong choice."
The company also confirmed United States v. Williams was tucked underneath a purse in their Spring 2023 campaign.
"All the items included in this shooting were provided by third parties that confirmed in writing that these props were fake office documents."
They added, "The inclusion of these unapproved documents was the result of reckless negligence for which Balenciaga has filed a complaint."
On Sunday, November 27, Kardashian, who is an ambassador for Balenciaga, addressed the controversy on Twitter.
"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 said.
"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."
The mom of four—who shares kids North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm with estranged husband Kanye West—continued, "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—& the actions I am expecting to see them take to protect children."
Days later, on November 29, Kardashian shared several photos of her house.
"Things at home that make me happy," she captioned the images.
In the comments, people were quick to slam the SKKN by KIM founder.
"Fashion gate distraction," one person wrote in a comment, which has since raked in over 4,000 likes.
"Distractions...," another user said in a post that garnered a similar amount of likes.
"This is called gauging the temp on social media to find out how many people are with/against you common PR move," a third user chimed in.
"Just a test post to see how people are reacting to her #cancelbalenciaga #cancelkimkardashian," a fourth user agreed.
Newsweek has reached out to Kardashian's representative for comment.
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About the writer
Megan Cartwright is Newsweek's Deputy Entertainment Editor, based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. pop culture and entertainment ... Read more