Top model Bella Hadid is attempting to step away from the ongoing controversy surrounding Balenciaga and the clothing brand’s recent post. The luxury clothing and footwear company recently made headlines when it, along with other brands, cut ties with Kanye West following his anti-semitic comments.
Balenciaga released its Spring/Summer 2023 collection, with celebrities like Hadid and Nicole Kidman modeling its outfits. The brand also featured children in its campaign, holding up stuffed dolls in fetish gear. The post was followed by a picture of a bag that included pages of a Supreme Court case focused on a federal child pornography law.
The backlash after the post caused Balenciaga to take it down and other older images on its social media page. Parties involved in the shoot have been distancing themselves from the incident, and Hadid just became the latest.
Read on to learn more.
Bella Hadid Deleted Posts From Balenciaga
Hadid recently took down pictures of herself modeling for Balenciaga amid ongoing backlash. The model took down the brand’s most recent campaign for its Spring/Summer 2023 collection, which debuted during the Paris Fashion Week. The pictures featured two toddlers holding up bears that had on what looked like fetish gear.
Several fans slammed Hadid for her affiliation with the brand and left several comments that had #cancelbalenciaga. Per Page Six, an outraged follower wrote, “Can’t believe these celebrities have no care for the children at all! You work with a label that have sexually exploited children in their ad campaigns! But because the people spoke up, they’ve apologised [sic] … they wouldn’t have otherwise, and you puppets are ok with it all?!”
Another concerned fan asked that Hadid address the “unethical aspects” of Balenciaga’s recent campaign in order for her not to be lumped together with the company. The model is yet to release any statement on the matter yet.
Balenciaga Posted Pictures Of Children Holding Strange Looking Teddy Bears
The Balenciaga post under fire features little girls holding onto stuffed animals in what seems to be bondage-inspired outfits. The controversial post also reportedly consisted of an image of a US Supreme Court case that talked about a federal child pornography law.
The picture featured a black and white striped Balenciaga handbag among the brand’s collections. However, an eagle-eyed Twitter user zoomed in and pointed out the poorly hidden Supreme Court document in the corner of the photo.
Other pictures in the clothing campaign featured known celebrities like Hadid and Kidman. The duo modeled the adult outfits from the collection. The post unsurprisingly generated a lot of backlash from the public, and there were calls to cancel the brand.
Balenciaga Issued An Apology
After the massive onslaught online for their Spring/Summer 2023 collection, the luxury brand responded by taking down the offending post from their Instagram page. Balenciaga also took down every other post on the page amid the controversy. The brand issued an apology to the public on Tuesday and promised to fish out the parties involved in the photo shoot.
Balenciaga wrote, “We apologize for displaying unsettling documents in our campaign. We take this matter very seriously and are taking legal action against the parties responsible for creating the set and including unapproved items for our Spring 23 campaign photoshoot.”
“We strongly condemn abuse of children in any form. We stand for children’s safety and well-being,” the statement continued. The brand also posted an almost identical apology on its Instagram story.
The Photographer Denied Involvement
Following the hundreds of hate mails and messages I received as a result of the photos I took for the Balenciaga campaign, I feel compelled to make this statement. pic.twitter.com/Hn7Ctg43o3
— Gabriele Galimberti | live on SR 💎 (@GabrieleGalimba) November 23, 2022
The photographer behind Balenciaga’s controversial pictures, Gabriele Galimberti, was also targeted by the public due to his input in the photo shoot. In a Twitter post, he revealed that the onslaught of hate mail prompted the statement. Galimberti explained that he had no power to choose the products or models in the shoot.
“As a photographer, I was only and solely requested to lit the given scene and take the shots according to my signature style. As usual, the direction of the campaign and of the shooting are not on the hands of the photographer,” the photographer continued.
Galimberti went on to tell the public not to be distracted from the real problem of pedophilia and the people behind it. He concluded by saying he had no hand in the picture taken of the Supreme Court document, which was posted along with his pictures.