Julia Fox has entered the chat.
Kanye West’s ex-girlfriend gave her two cents on Balenciaga’s duo of controversial ad campaigns, one featuring court documents relating to child pornography and another starring children holding teddy bears dressed in bondage attire.
“First things first, I’m not their spokesperson, I have zero relationship with the brand, I haven’t even been to one of their shows — they haven’t invited me,” Fox stated in a TikTok Monday, after fans asked for her thoughts on the offending shoots.
“Regardless, I think it’s horrific and when I was reading and watching all the videos I literally felt sick to my stomach,” she continued.
“But I couldn’t help but think, damn, the women who are associated to the brand professionally are getting so much pushback, it’s almost as if they’re the f—king child molesters.”
Over the screen, 32-year-old Fox wrote, “Why are women being blamed for a MANS [sic] mistake? It’s the internalized misogyny for me.”
Fox seemed to be referencing Kim Kardashian, who’s starred in multiple past Balenciaga campaigns, walked the brand’s runway and worn its designs on countless red carpets in recent years.
“Thank you I’m seeing Kim get more backlash then man who created the whole campaign,” one person commented on Fox’s TikTok.
Added another, “i’m seeing people asking the models/celebrities who have worked with them to apologize? for what exactly? they were not the creatives behind it?”
Others who’ve been called on to denounce the brand include Bella Hadid and Nicole Kidman, both of whom appeared in Balenciaga’s office-inspired spring 2023 campaign. While Hadid has deleted some of her Instagram posts plugging her ads, Kidman has not, and neither star has released a statement.
As for Kardashian, the 42-year-old Skims founder took days to speak out against the campaign, finally breaking her silence Sunday night.
“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,” Kardashian wrote, later adding that she was “re-evaluating [her] relationship” with Balenciaga.
The Spanish fashion brand has issued two apologies about the offending campaign shots, which have been removed from its social media channels and website.
“We strongly condemn child abuse; it was never our intent to include it in our narrative. The two separate ad campaigns in question reflect a series of grievous errors for which Balenciaga takes responsibility,” begins its latest statement, released Monday.
The company, which is owned by Kering, is suing a “third party” for “reckless negligence” in regards to the documents featuring the Supreme Court’ child pornography ruling pictured in the background of one of the ads, which Balenciaga claims were “unapproved.”
