The fashion photographer hired by Balenciaga for the luxury brand’s Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2023 collection which featured sexualized child models and was sprinkled with references to pedophilia, has claimed that he is being made a scapegoat.
According to photographer Gabriele Galimberti, the fashion shoot was intended to be based on the theme of giving and receiving gifts, drawing inspiration from his “toy story” photography series. However, Balenciaga intervened and forced him to use child models in sexualized poses, child porn props, and references to pedophilia.
As we reported earlier this week, Balenciaga’s advertisement showed young girls holding plush bear bags adorned with bondage gear. The bears are seen wearing padlocks, fishnets, leather harnesses, as well as ankle and wrist restraints.
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Another photo court showed documents from Ashcroft v Free Speech Coalition, a 2002 Supreme Court case. The case struck down a portion of the Child Pornography Prevention Act (CPPA) of 1996, ruling that “virtual” child pornography is protected speech.
Despite some ‘fact checkers’ running cover for the fashion label, labeling the issue an “absurd conspiracy theory,” Balenciaga publicly apologized for the controversy and said they were pursuing legal action against those responsible. They later deleted their whole Instagram after investigators began finding more examples of pedophilia-related content from past campaigns.
Balenciaga claimed the photoshoot included “unapproved” items that were not given the green light to appear in the campaign. However, it now appears this may have just been a deliberate ploy to deflect blame.
check this out..i just posted that they now have NINE posts..with the latest post from three hours ago..imo they don’t want ppl going down their rabbit 🐰 hole.. https://t.co/c30gdMad0R
— lucylovesme (@AdlerCatherine) November 21, 2022
Galimberti responded to Balenciaga’s threat of legal action by telling Newsweek: “I am not in a position to comment [on] Balenciaga’s choices, but I must stress that I was not entitled in whatsoever manner to neither choose the products, nor the models, nor the combination of the same.”
In other words, Galimberti is claiming Balenciaga threw him under a bus and that the company itself was responsible for creating the pedo-friendly photo shoot set up.
Summit report: The argument that the scandal represents something rotten within Balenciaga was bolstered by other evidence.
As a Twitter user highlighted, in a separate Balenciaga photo shoot, a book by Michaël Borremans, a Belgian painter, appears on the desk next to a model.
Some of Borremans’ paintings depict naked children who appear to be traumatized or involved in some kind of abusive environment.
Meanwhile, Kim Kardashian, an ambassador for Balenciaga, has refused to comment on the issue, despite publicly condemning her soon to be ex-husband Kanye West for offensive words he posted on Twitter.
