Balenciaga Suing Production Company Behind Controversial Ads
Balenciaga Suing Production Company Behind Controversial Child “BDSM” Ads, Twitter Reacts
Source: Asanka Ratnayake / Getty
Balenciaga‘s now got bigger problems than Kanye West.
Now that the fashion house has cut ties with Ye over his antisemitic remarks, the latest issue comes after its controversial Spring 2023 campaign.
One of the campaign images shows young children standing on beds amongst a bunch of the brand’s latest merch, like sunglasses and jewelry, but also disturbingly holding bags shaped like bears wearing S&M garb. And in another photo, are documents from a Supreme Court case about child pornography.
Now, Balenciaga is upset about the uproar behind the campaign and is suing the production company behind the shoot. According to New York State Supreme Court documents filed last week, Balenciaga is suing production company North Six, Inc. and set designer Nicholas Des Jardins for $25 million.
The Spanish fashion house is owned by Kering –a French-based luxury group which also owns Gucci and YSL– and hired North Six to get the job done and feature stars like actor Nicole Kidman and model Bella Hadid to replicate corporate environments and was even staged in “Manhattan office space.”
It was there that a messy desk featured the child pornography court documents from a 2008 case dubbed United States v. Williams. And according to CNN, Balenciaga said that the case “confirms as illegal and not protected by freedom of speech the promotion of child pornography.”
Balenciaga further tries to relieve itself of wrongdoing by saying it was told the papers were merely props.
“All the items included in the shooting were provided by third parties that confirmed in writing that these props were fake office documents,” the statement explained. “They turned out to be real legal papers most likely coming from the filming of a television drama. The inclusion of these unapproved documents was the result of reckless negligence for which Balenciaga has filed a complaint.”
See how Twitter is reacting to the controversy below.
