In the midst of a firestorm of controversy surrounding its recently holiday ads, which outraged critics have insisted sexualize children and promote child abuse, Balenciaga released a new statement on Monday. “We strongly condemn child abuse; it was never our intent to include it in our narrative,” the statement said. “The two separate ad campaigns in question represent a series of grievous errors for which Balenciaga takes responsibility.” Balenciaga conceded the campaigns should not have paired children with what some have labelled to be BDSM-inspired outfits, or with a background image of a 2008 Supreme Court ruling that deemed child pornography to be illegal and not protected by free speech. In its statement, Balenciaga said that the brand is re-evaluating its creative processes and “laying the groundwork” with organizations aiming to end child abuse and exploitation. Balenciaga has also filed a $25 million lawsuit against the production company North Six, Inc. and set designer Nicholas Des Jardins over their creation of the Spring 2023 campaign that featured the Supreme Court printout; the companies were not involved in the teddy bear campaign.
