Fans of Nicole Kidman are calling on the actor to release a statement regarding her relationship with Balenciaga amid backlash over the brand’s recent ad campaigns featuring children.
The Big Little Lies star, 55, joined celebrities such as Bella Hadid and Isabelle Huppert as a star in Balenciaga’s recent Spring 2023 ad. The brand has since removed the ad, as well as another recent campaign that featured children posing with plush bears handbags dressed in BDSM accessories, over allegations of child abuse.
The issue with the ad featuring Kidman stemmed from the use of a printout of a Supreme Court decision on child pornography, which was displayed as a prop under a Balenciaga Adidas purse, and in the backdrop of the campaign photos.
Balenciaga apologised for the “unsettling documents” featured in the since-removed campaign last week, adding that they take the matter “seriously” and would be taking legal action.
On 25 November, Balenciaga filed a lawsuit against production company North Six, Inc and its agent, Nicholas Des Jardins, for engaging in “inexplicable acts and omissions” that were “malevolent or, at the very least, extraordinarily reckless”.
In another statement released on Monday 28 November, Balenciaga condemned child abuse while also saying they take “responsibility” for the “grievous errors” that led up to the release of the controversial campaigns.
As of 28 November, Kidman has yet to address the controversy and photos from the ad are still displayed on her Instagram. In response, many of her fans have spoken out against her decision not to address the controversy have even called it “shameful”.
“When people show you who they are, believe them. So gross that she’s not outraged by this brand,” one person wrote in the comments under a Balenciaga campaign photo on Kidman’s Instagram, while another said: “This post shows how clueless or unconcerned you are. Shame on you!”
“Are you going to speak out against their disgusting ads???” someone else asked.
In contrast, Kim Kardashian, who has worked closely with Balenciaga over the years, released a statement of her own regarding the brand. She said she was “reevaluating” her relationship with the luxury designer.
“As a mother of four, I have been shaken by the disturbing images,” she said in a statement on her Instagram Story. “The safety of children must be held with the highest regard and any attempts to normalise child abuse of any kind should have no place in our society – period. I have been quiet for the past few days, not because I haven’t been disgusted and outraged by the recent Balenciaga campaigns, but because I wanted an opportunity to speak to their team to understand for myself how this could have happened.”
Hadid also made a subtle statement of her own when she removed recent pictures of the campaign from her Instagram.
The Independent has contacted Balenciaga, Adidas and a representative for Kidman for comment.
