Bella Hadid Seemingly Deletes Balenciaga Post After Fashion Brand's Controversial BDSM Bear Ads
Nov. 25 2022, Published 5:00 p.m. ET
Bella Hadid seemingly removed a Balenciaga-related post from her Instagram grid after controversy over their recent campaign, RadarOnline.com has learned.
The fashion house sparked backlash due to showing children holding up plush bears wearing bondage gear.
RadarOnline.com has learned that Hadid posted two images of herself modeling for Balenciaga on her page before deleting them on Wednesday amid the outcry, according to multiple reports. She's worked with the brand on a number of occasions, doing both photoshoots and runway shows. Hadid still has a number of older posts from the brand on her social.
Critics expressed their disdain for her not severing ties underneath a previous post promoting her Balenciaga x Adidas collaboration on November 3.
At this time, Hadid has yet to address the controversy.
The brand released a statement on the ad just a few days ago, having also pulled the controversial images off social media — as well as deleting every post from their Instagram.
"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. We have immediately removed the campaign from all platforms," it read.
Many were even more outraged by another visible document in one of the photos, seemingly including an excerpt from a U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld part of a federal child pornography law.
"We apologize for displaying unsettling documents in our campaign," Balenciaga's statement continued in a second slide. "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's safety and well-being."
Balenciaga told Daily Mail they will not be taking any "legal action" against photographer Gabriele Galimberti, who captured the shots, but will take action against creatives "responsible for creating the Spring 23 set and including unapproved items for that campaign photoshoot."
Galimberti released a statement of his own, addressing "the hundreds of hate mails and messages I received as a result of the photos I took for the Balenciaga campaign."
"I am not in a position to comment [on] Balenciagas choices, but I must stress that I was not entitled in whatsoever manner to neither chose the products, nor the models, nor the combination of the same," he wrote.
"As a photographer, I was only and solely requested to lit the given scene, and take the shots according to my signature style," Galimberti further explained, noting "the direction of the campaign and the choice of the objects displayed are not in the hands of the photographer."
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