Kim Kardashian 'DECLINED new Balenciaga campaign offer'

2022-12-01

Kim Kardashian ‘DECLINED new Balenciaga campaign offer’ BEFORE breaking silence on BDSM child photo controversy… amid fierce criticism for refusing to cut ties with the brand

The 42-year-old reality star had was given a proposal to do a 2023 Balenciaga campaign before the controversial ads went public
However, it is claimed that after the images were posted online Kim had made the choice to reject the offer before ever making a public statement
It is alleged that Kim had plans to wear Balenciaga ensembles at events she was set to attend in the next few months but has called an audible
Kim is currently not currently locked into a deal with the brand headed by her pal Demna Gvasalia and is not actually making any direct money from the company
She finally broke her silence with a social media statement on Sunday
Kim was at the center of controversy after not immediately cutting ties with the brand as she instead said she was ‘re-evaluating’ their relationship

Kim Kardashian had declined a new campaign offer from Balenciaga before breaking her silence on the BDSM child photo controversy according to a new report.

The 42-year-old reality star – who recently settled her ugly divorce with Kanye West – had denied an offer from the brand and ditched outfits that she was set to wear at upcoming events according to sources from TMZ on Wednesday.

According to insiders for the publication, the Spain-based high fashion label had given the mother-of-four a proposal to do a 2023 campaign before the controversial ads went public.

DailyMail.com has reached out to representatives for both Kim and Balenciaga and have yet to hear back.

Taking a stand: Kim Kardashian had declined a new campaign offer from Balenciaga before breaking her silence on the BDSM child photo controversy according to a new TMZ report, she is seen wearing the luxury fashion brand at an event earlier this month

However, it is claimed that after the images were posted online Kim had made the choice to reject the offer before ever making a public statement.

It doesn’t end there as TMZ sources also claim that Kim had plans to wear Balenciaga ensembles at events she was set to attend in the next few months but has called an audible and has been in contact with other designers for alternative looks.

Furthermore, the publication reports that Kim is currently not locked into a deal with the brand headed by her pal Demna Gvasalia and is not actually making any direct money from the company.

Moving on? The 42-year-old reality star had denied an offer from the brand and ditched outfits that she was set to wear at upcoming events according to sources for the publication on Wednesday, she is seen in an advertisement for the luxury brand

Kim was at the center of controversy after not immediately cutting ties with the brand as she instead said she was ‘re-evaluating’ her relationship with the brand after finally breaking her silence with a social media statement on Sunday.

The reality TV star said that while she was ‘shaken’ and ‘disgusted’ to see the images in the controversial ad campaign, she had wanted to speak with officials at the designer to understand how it came to be.

Clearly embarrassed by their ill-judged campaign, Balenciaga took the drastic step of wiping its social media pages clean before releasing another statement on Monday morning.

‘I have been quiet for the past few days, not because I haven’t been shocked 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,’ the Los Angeles-born celebrity said in a statement on her Instagram page.

She continued: ‘As a mother of four, I have been shaken by those disturbing images. The safety of children must be held with the highest regard and anything against it should have no place in our society – period.’

She subsequently reissued the statement that saw some of the wording changed using stronger language adding: ‘any attempts to normalize child abuse of any kind should have no place in our society – period.’

Moving on? Kim shared a selfie with nine-year-old daughter North on Wednesday

However, on balance, Kardashian said that she is comfortable with how the company reacted to the scandal.

‘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.’

In an additional post, to both Instagram and Twitter, Kardashian said she was reconsidering her relationship with the fashion brand but had not yet many any firm decisions.

‘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.’

Kardashian is often seen wearing Balenciaga to major events and has featured in several of the brand’s campaigns in the past.

Next: TMZ sources also claim that Kim had plans to wear Balenciaga ensembles at events she was set to attend in the next few months but has called an audible and has been in contact with other designers for alternative looks, she is seen wearing the fashion label back in March

Essentially the fashion face of the company, Kardashian is Balenciaga’s biggest supporter and the brand’s most famous model, appearing to walk on water in the fashion house’s fall 2022 campaign.

She was famously introduced to Balenciaga Creative Director Demna Gvasalia by her ex, Kanye West with the couple’s daughters also sporting the brand, too, having recently been spotted carrying four-figure bags from the brand.

She acknowledged the role her ex-husband had played in the relationship in December 2021 as she spoke at the People’s Choice Awards where she accepted an award for fashion.

‘To Kanye, for really introducing me to the fashion world,’ she said. ‘I fell in love with fashion and I’m so inspired by so many people. But again, this is like a dream that I get to wake up and wear these amazing clothes and try new things and take a risk. I’m so humbled.’

She subsequently issued a second statement that changed some of the wording, noting that ‘any attempts to normalize child abuse of any kind should have no place in our society – period’

In an additional post, this time to both Twitter and Instagram, Kardashian said she was reconsidering her relationship with the fashion brand

At the time, Vogue described it as ‘the peak of Kardashian’s Balenciaga moment.’

More recently, on the Season 2 finale of Hulu’s The Kardashians which dropped last week, she seen was chatting with head designer Demna.

During the episode she explained how her relationship with Balenciaga started with West, but that it had evolved throughout the years.

‘Demna is the head designer of Balenciaga. I think the partnership with Balenciaga obviously came from Kanye, but I was just genuinely loving their clothes and wearing them all the time and it was a really organic relationship that happened, and I think those are the best ones.’

‘Every day was a campaign anyway, because that’s what I genuinely love, so the fact that it turned into real ones, and just walking in the show, just means so much,’ Kardashian says in confession.

In July 2022, Kardashian walked the catwalk and modeled for the brand at Paris Fashion Week.

She was seen wearing the brand as recently as last week as she sported a wearing Adidas x Balenciaga collaboration top, two of the designers who dropped her ex West, 45, after his recent anti-Semitic rants.

She wore a top from the two designer’s collaboration, a long-sleeve black shirt with white stripes on the sleeve and the names of the brands placed in the center of the chest.

Fans had been demanding she speak out, flooding her recent posts with calls for her to say something and questions about her relationship with the luxury label.

‘Condemn balenciaga have you seen their ads? You have 4 kids!’ one user wrote in the comments.

‘Would like to see a comment about balenciaga before seeing this. Your silence on this is topic deafening,’ one comment read.

‘I see more comments about you supporting a pedophilic fashion line than people congratulating on your lame thanksgiving. Why don’t you speak up instead of trying to ignore it?’ another commenter wrote.

‘Shine the light on the mistreatment of kids. You are the problem if you don’t speak up,’ added another user.

Fans had been flooding her social media pages over the weekend demanding Kardashian speak out

On Twitter, users appeared skeptical of Kardashian’s statement with many suggesting only a complete the complete cutting of ties from the brand would be appropriate.

‘I don’t believe that you’re being sincere at all. I think you were just hoping that it would blow over. There’s no way that they paid for an ad campaign, didn’t look it over thoroughly before they put it out there. Seems like it’s more about money for you,’ wrote one fan.

‘You can’t be that outraged if you’re going to continue to model for them I applaud u for speaking up but the fact that this even happened speaks volumes and so publicly at that. Shame on balenciaga and anyone who still supports them. Things like this don’t deserve a second chance,’ added another.

‘Coming from a fan of you for many years this isn’t good enough. Now maybe you couldn’t of done anything then but you can now cut ties with balenciaga at least! Ain’t no one forgetting this one there’s no excuse big enough to cover what everyone saw,’ echoed a third.

‘No. They were promoting child sexual abuse. How on EARTH can you say they ‘understand the severity’ and still work with them, especially as a mom?? This shows how sheltered you are. No concept of the impact this has on victims. Disgusting,’ responded one user.

On Twitter, users appeared skeptical of Kardashian’s statement with many suggesting only a complete the complete cutting of ties from the brand would be appropriate

Among the clothing worn by the children’s toys in the ads are fishnet stockings, chokers, string vests and chains leading to many on social media to refer to it as ‘child porn’ and ‘disturbing.’

Perhaps the most shocking image is that of a document from a previous advertisement, pictured close to a child and tucked under a purse, the 2008 Supreme Court ruling United States v Williams which examined if laws against the promotion of child pornography were in violation of the first amendment.

The ruling determined that offering or requesting to transfer, sell, deliver, or trade child pornography did not violate the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, even if a person charged under the code did not in fact possess child pornography with which to trade.

One of the ad’s photos contained an excerpt from the US Supreme Court opinion in United States v. Williams, which upheld part of a federal child pornography law, which Twitter’s own fact-checkers confirmed

Balenciaga, which is popular with A-list celebrities including the likes of Kim Kardashian – has deleted two shocking images showing two young girls holding a teddy bear in bondage style gear on the gift shop section of its website

The late Justice Antonin Scalia noted specifically that offers to engage in illegal transactions are categorically excluded from First Amendment protection.

‘As a result of Defendants’ misconduct, members of the public, including the news media, have falsely and horrifically associated Balenciaga with the repulsive and deeply disturbing subject of the court decision,’ court documents reveal.

‘Defendants are liable to Balenciaga for all harm resulting from this false association.’

Ads were initially released over Paris Fashion Week at the end of September, start of October and were intended to boost the fashion house’s spring 2023 collection.

Balenciaga ignored the scandal around the Plush Toy Bag photos at first and seemingly allowed the photographer who was involved, Gabriele Galimberti, to take the heat.

Kardashian is often seen wearing Balenciaga to major events and has featured in several of the brand’s campaigns in the past such as Paris Fashion Week, above

He released a statement saying he had no control over the content of the shoot and eventually, Balenciaga released its own statement agreeing with him and taking responsibility for the campaign.

It has now been pulled from the internet.

After the BDSM bears fiasco, eagle-eyed critics started examining the rest of Balenciaga’s campaigns closely.

They soon discovered that in the background of an image from the Spring ’23 campaign was a printout of a Supreme Court ruling on whether or not internet child porn can be legally considered free speech.

On the back of the bears scandal, many critics said it pointed to a troubling pattern within Balenciaga.

Balenciaga was quick to blame North Six, a production company that helped arrange the shoot, for the inclusion of those documents.

They claimed that they entrusted all of the props from the photoshoot to North Six, and that their team was assured everything that was included was fake.

Balenciaga is yet to answer for the inclusion of a book by Michael Borremans in the background of two of the images from the Spring ’23 campaign.

Borremans is a Belgian painter whose work includes a troubling 2017 series called Fire From The Sun.

It depicts naked toddlers – some of them castrated – playing in a group and at times alone.

Lawyers for the brand are yet to address DailyMail.com’s questions about how the book ended up on the photoshoot.

THE BALENCIAGA SCANDAL: BONDAGE BEARS, CHILD PORN DOCS AND AN ARTIST KNOWN FOR DEPICTING NAKED KIDS

The Bondage Bears Christmas campaign

The scandal erupted when Balenciaga released its 2022 Holiday ad campaign that featured children posing with its Plush Toy Bag. The bags look like teddy bears and are dressed in BDSM gear.

In the photo shoot, the kids also appeared surrounded by empty wine and champagne glasses.

The distinctly adult themes immediately troubled many who asked why children had ever been used.

Balenciaga ignored the scandal at first and seemingly allowed the photographer who was involved, Gabriele Galimberti, to take the heat.

He released a statement saying he had no control over the content of the shoot and eventually, Balenciaga released its own statement agreeing with him and taking responsibility for the campaign.

It has now been pulled from the internet.

The hidden child porn documents

After the BDSM bears fiasco, eagle-eyed critics started examining the rest of Balenciaga’s campaigns closely.

On the back of the bears scandal, many critics said it pointed to a troubling pattern within Balenciaga.

Balenciaga was quick to blame North Six, a production company that helped arrange the shoot, for the inclusion of those documents.

They claimed that they entrusted all of the props from the photoshoot to North Six, and that their team was assured everything that was included was fake.

The troubling book of artist whose work depicts naked, castrated toddlers

Balenciaga is yet to answer for the inclusion of a book by Michael Borremans in the background of two of the images from the Spring ’23 campaign.

Borremans is a Belgian painter whose work includes a troubling 2017 series called Fire From The Sun.

It depicts naked toddlers – some of them castrated – playing in a group and at times alone.

Lawyers for the brand are yet to address DailyMail.com’s questions about how the book ended up on the photoshoot.

In this image from Balenciaga’s scrapped Spring ’23 campaign, Isabelle Huppert sits in front of a stack of books including one that celebrates Michael Borremans, a Belgian painter whose work is known to include depictions of castrated toddlers

Borremans’ other work includes his 2017 series Fire From The Sun, which features castrated toddlers and babies holding what look like severed limbs, while playing together nude in a large group

This comes as self-proclaimed billionaires Kim and Kanye have finally settled their divorce after an ugly public battle that raged on for almost two years since they split.

The pair have now come to an accord on the custody of their four kids, parenting plans and division of their multimillion dollar real estate portfolio.

Kardashian will get getting $200,000 in child support monthly, TMZ reported on Tuesday after reviewing court docs. West, 45, and Kardashian will share joint custody and have ‘equal access’ to their four kids North, nine, Saint, six, Chicago, four, and Psalm, three.

The latest: This comes as self-proclaimed billionaires Kim and Kanye have finally settled their divorce after an ugly public battle that raged on for almost two years since they split.

Insiders told TMZ that Kardashian will have custody of the children most of the time.

Under terms of the agreement, West will be responsible for 50 percent of the educational and security expenses for the four kids.

West and Kardashian agreed to attend mediation should they have a parenting disagreement, according to the outlet. Should one not attend the session, the attending parent will get to make the decision on the topic at hand.

The $200,000 monthly payment must be wired into Kim’s account on the first day of every month.

Both West and Kardashian waived receiving spousal support per the agreements of the prenuptial agreement they signed prior to their marriage, the outlet reported.

Kanye was seen as he picked up daughter North from basketball practice Tuesday

West, 45, and Kardashian will share joint custody and have ‘equal access’ to their four kids North, nine, Saint, six, Chicago , four, and Psalm, three, but Kim will have them most of the time

In the divorce settlement, West agreed to transfer Kardashian the title of a $4.5 million home next to where Kardashian lives in Southern California, according to TMZ.

Kardashian will now be the owner of the five-bedroom home, which spans 3,650 sq. feet. She is expected to tear down the home – which West said he bought to be closer to his kids – as it is in need of multiple renovations.

In addition to the home next door, Kim will retain rights to the $60 million estate in Hidden Hills, California she lives in with the kids, as well as property in Idaho.

In the pact, West will retain ownership of a $60 million Malibu beach home; a pair of ranches he owns in Wyoming; 300 acres in Calabasas, California; a home in Belgium; and the Chicago home he grew up in.

In addition to the home next door, Kim will retain rights to the $60 million estate in Hidden Hills, California she lives in with the kids

She will also retain the rights to a neighboring property West purchased following their split

In the pact, West will retain ownership of his $60 million Malibu beach home

West purchased the four-bedroom, four-and-a-half bathroom in September of 2021 for more than $57 million

Sources told the outlet that Kardashian has tried in vain to reach an overall divorce agreement with West over the part year, but he continually refused ‘to participate in resolving’ the matter.

‘Kim’s patience was tested, but she handled things calmly and ultimately Kanye came around,’ the source told the outlet.

According to the outlet, Kardashian’s lawyer Laura Wasser was key in mediating between the parties to nail down an agreement between the exes.

Had they not settled, West would have had to give a deposition in the case and a trial would have commenced next month.

The settlement comes less than two months after a report that indicated West was preparing to agree to it.

The way they were: West will be responsible for 50 percent of the educational and security expenses for the kids

Source: Read Full Article