Kim Kardashian reportedly turned down a 2023 Balenciaga deal after announcing she was “re-evaluating” her partnership with the fashion house following their BDSM ad scandal.
According to TMZ, the brand approached Kardashian with the offer before the controversial images came out — but she declined the gig shortly after the backlash began.
The reality star, 42, also scrapped numerous Balenciaga outfits she was planning on wearing to upcoming events and has already reached out to other designers.
Kardashian’s decision to ditch the campaign came days before she denounced the brand, saying she was “shaken by the disturbing images.”
“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,” Kardashian tweeted on Monday.
“As a mother of four, I have been shaken by the disturbing images. The safety of children must be held with the highest regard and any attempts to normalize child abuse of any kind should have no place in our society — period.”
The “Kardashians” star, who has posed for several Balenciaga campaigns and walked in their runway show, went on to say she was “re-evaluating” her relationship with the brand — whom she seemingly now cut off for good.
Despite receiving backlash for not calling out the brand sooner, sources told TMZ that the Skims founder is currently not under a contract with the fashion house.
Many other celebrities — including Kardashian’s sister Kylie Jenner — have also spoken out against the luxury brand.
The outrage began earlier this month after the retailer released an ad campaign featuring children holding teddy bears dressed in BDSM-style harnesses. Another one of the images included the Supreme Court ruling about child pornography.
Since then, Balenciaga has apologized twice and pulled the troublesome campaign.
“We would like to address the controversies surrounding our recent ad campaigns. We strongly condemn child abuse; it was never our intent to include it in our narrative,” the Instagram statement read.
“The two separate ad campaigns in question reflect a series of grievous errors for which Balenciaga takes responsibility.”
They have since filed a $25 million lawsuit against the “third party” that created the images for “reckless negligence.”
