Kim Kardashian Ignites Twitter After Defending Her Tepid Response To Balenciaga Controversy

When Balenciaga unveiled an ad campaign featuring children wearing the designer label's apparel and posing with teddy bears outfitted in harnesses and other gear associated with BDSM, the public was outraged.

In response to the massive backlash, Balenciaga issued an apology on its Instagram Story. "Our plush bear bags should not have been featured with children in this campaign. We have immediately removed the campaign from all platforms," it read (via CNN). The controversy placed the label under a microscope, and critics soon called attention to another ad that featured court documents referring to laws regarding child sexual abuse material. In a since-deleted Instagram post, Balenciaga said that the documents were props procured by another party and that they were likely previously used for a legal drama, per Complex.

Kim Kardashian is a long-time Balenciaga fan who kicked off 2022 by getting cast in one of its campaigns, per i-D, so her fans naturally wanted to hear what she had to say about the scandal. On Twitter, she revealed that she personally reached out to Balenciaga and was assured that the brand was taking steps to avoid similar gaffes in the future. "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," she wrote. For some, Kardashian's reaction didn't cut it — and neither did her defense of her decision not to immediately cut ties with Balenciaga.

On the "Angie Martinez IRL" podcast, Kim Kardashian addressed the furor over her failure to issue a statement about Balenciaga's controversial campaign right away. She explained that she didn't feel adequately prepared to speak out about the campaign at first because she didn't have direct knowledge about it. "I'm like, 'Wait. I'm not in this campaign,'" she said. "'Let me take a minute to like research this.'" After she said her piece, Kardashian realized that many of her fans were disappointed that she didn't take a harsher stance. "Because I didn't say, 'F**k you, Balenciaga. That's it,' people got mad at that," she lamented.

Kardashian felt like people would find fault with her behavior no matter what she did — and her complaints were met with yet more criticism on Twitter. Some netizens called her out for being more concerned about how the scandal was impacting her than the actual issue at hand. "She's mad people saw through her PR influenced statement lol. if she had any intention to cut ties w them she would've just done that," one person tweeted. "She instead 'denounced' cp (what a hero..) and is now complaining that the mess hasn't gone away." Another critic's assessment read, "That's many words for 'I don't want to cut ties with whoever gives me my millions.'" And a third person opined, "There is no 'making mistakes' or second chances when it comes to such blatant child sexual exploitation."