After just about a week since filing their $25 million lawsuit against the production company hired for one of their controversial ads (specifically, the office-themed campaign featuring child porn court docs), Balenciaga has dropped their case.
Balenciaga Drops $25 Million Lawsuit Against Production Company Hired In Controversial Ad Featuring Child Porn Court Docs
If you recall, one of the campaigns that brought heat to Balenciaga featured images of children holding teddy bears in bondage, while another campaign went viral, showing an image of child pornography court documents spread across a desk.
Regarding the latter campaign, the luxury French fashion brand claimed that the production company (North Six, Inc.), plus the set designer (Nicholas Des Jardins and his company), fell negligent upon being hired for the brand’s 2023 campaign.
Balenciaga claimed in its suit that the two parties hired never received permission to include the court documents pertaining to the U.S. Supreme Court case United States v. Williams, which upheld a portion of a law prohibiting child pornography.
Reps from both parties hired denied that they were responsible for any backlash. A week later, Balenciaga announced that they were ceasing litigation with a statement sent to social media.
The company said in its post:
“BALENCIAGA TAKES THE FOLLOWING ACTIONS WITH THE OBJECTIVE TO LEARN FROM OUR MISTAKES AS AN ORGANIZATION.
NEW CONTROL INSTANCES:
– OUR CURRENT PROCESS FOR CONTENT VALIDATION HAS FAILED, AND WE RECOGNIZE THE NEED TO DO BETTER
– ON THE INTERNAL SIDE, WE NOMINATE WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT AN IMAGE BOARD RESPONSIBLE FOR EVALUATING THE NATURE OF OUR CONTENT FROM CONCEPT TO FINAL ASSETS, INCLUDING LEGAL, SUSTAINABILITY AND DIVERSITY EXPERTISE
– ON THE EXTERNAL SIDE, WE HAVE APPOINTED A BEST-IN-CLASS AGENCY TO ASSESS AND EVALUATE OUR CONTENT
ORGANIZATION:
– WE HAVE REORGANIZED OUR IMAGE DEPARTMENT TO ENSURE FULL ALIGNMENT WITH OUR CORPORATE GUIDELINES
LAWSUIT:
– BALENCIAGA HAS DECIDED NOT TO PURSUE LITIGATION
LEARN AND CONTRIBUTE:
– WE WANT TO LEARN, HELP AND CONTRIBUTE TO PROTECT CHILDREN
– WE ARE STARTING TRAININGS ON RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION ACROSS OUR TEAMS
– TOGETHER WITH MY TEAM, WE WILL GO ON “LISTENING TOUR” TO ENGAGE WITH ADVOCACY GROUPS WHO AIM TO PROTECT CHILDREN
DONATION:
– WE HAVE SET ASIDE A SIGNIFICANT FUND FOR GRANTS TO ORGANIZATIONS SO THAT WE CAN HELP MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN PROTECTING CHILDREN
I WANT TO PERSONALLY REITERATE MY SINCERE APOLOGIES FOR THE OFFENSE CAUSED AND TAKE MY RESPONSIBILITY, AT BALENCIAGA, WE STAND TOGETHER FOR CHILDREN SAFETY AND DO NOT TOLERATE ANY KIND OF VIOLENCE AND HATRED MESSAGE.
CÉDRIC CHARBIT
PRESIDENT AND CEO”
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