While many social media users continue to be outraged over Balenciaga’s latest ad campaign featuring a child, the father of the young model sees absolutely nothing wrong with it and is now defending the controversial photoshoot.
As we previously reported, the luxury retail has been hit with a wave of backlash after sharing a picture of a British child model who posed holding X-rated teddy bears wearing bondage gear for Balenciaga’s BDSM-themed fashion shoot. Fox News host Tucker Carlson even called the brand out for “sexually exploiting children in the US.”
The French brand has since released a statement regarding its failed campaign, saying, “We sincerely apologize for any offense our holiday campaign may have caused. Our plush bear bags should not have been featured with children in this campaign,” the company said in a statement posted to its Instagram story earlier this week. “We have immediately removed the campaign from all platforms.”
A second statement later appeared on the company’s Instagram story: “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 safety and well-being.”
the brand "Balenciaga" just did a uh….. interesting… photoshoot for their new products recently which included a very purposely poorly hidden court document about 'virtual child porn'
normal stuff pic.twitter.com/zjMN5WhZ0s
— shoe (@shoe0nhead) November 21, 2022
Despite all the online commotion, the father of the child is defending Balenciaga’s shoot saying his daughter had a “fantastic time” posing for the photographs. Speaking exclusively with the Daily Mail, the father, who remains anonymous said he was present at the shoot, which was “an enjoyable day out.” He insisted the pictures of his daughter had been taken “totally out of context.” He went on to say,
“No parent would actively encourage the child to take part in something which was pornographic, and I think the publicity surrounding what happened has been blown out of all proportion,” he told the outlet.
Speaking anonymously, the father also talked about the photographer, Gabriele Galimberti. He said: “I feel desperately sorry for Gabriele, this had nothing directly to do with him and he was merely taking the photographs as requested by Balenciaga. The parents of the children were at the shoot and they approved of what took place.”
“Gabriele is an accomplished photographer and no way does he deserve the abuse he has been getting, the parents all knew what they were doing and the children had a fantastic time on the shoot. His innocent and has been drawn into all this unfairly. It was a really enjoyable day but it has now all been ruined because people have taken it all out of context and created an international media storm.” He continued, “If I felt at any time that it was inappropriate, I would have stepped in and I’m sure the other parents would have done the same, but no one did,” the Daily Mail quotes.
The photos have since been removed from Balenciaga’s official website. As the news site notes, Balenciaga has also deleted the images from its social media platforms and promised a “full investigation” into the “parties responsible for creating the set and including unapproved items for our Spring 23 campaign photoshoot.”
RELATED: Balenciaga Apologizes And Pulls ‘Disgusting’ Advert After Being Accused Of Sexualizing Minors; Tucker Carlson Says Ad Campaign Should Be Viewed As A ‘Crime’
Source