Euphoria star Alexa Demie has become the latest celebrity to cut ties with Balenciaga as most Americans surveyed in a poll for Newsweek agree that celebrities should boycott the brand, amid its ongoing scandal.
Demie who stars as Maddy Perez in the HBO teen drama unfollowed Balenciaga on Instagram and deleted all her Balenciaga-related social media posts.
The actor starred in the Spanish designer's Winter 2022 campaign and often wore the label to public events, but has distanced herself from Balenciaga after it came under fire for two controversial campaigns.
Critics have accused the brand of sexualizing children in one campaign which featured children posing with teddy bears dressed in bondage gear.
The other office-inspired ad for its campaign with Adidas included a reference to a Supreme Court case on child pornography.
Since the scandal erupted in November, many have called for celebrities to boycott Balenciaga, a view the majority of Americans polled support.
In fact, 60 percent of people who were aware of the controversy agreed that celebrities should ditch the brand, according to polling of 1,500 individuals done by Redfield & Wilton Strategies on behalf of Newsweek.
Of those surveyed who had heard of the scandal, 32 percent strongly supported celebrities who have decided to boycott the Spanish fashion house.
Actress Rosie O'Donnell was one major celebrity who condemned Balenciaga's campaign choices after being asked by a fan for her opinion.
"You know, they'll pay for it," O'Donnell said on TikTok.
"I don't know one person who uses or buys or wears or whatever you do with Balenciaga products," she said. "I'm not a Balenciaga person. If you put five things in front of me and said, 'Pick out the Balenciaga,' I would not be able to do it.
"So what is my feeling is that we should protect children at all costs, and that was a bad idea. That's what I think. But I just don't really have any understanding of even what it is. It's a brand of high-end, like Kim Kardashian-level stuff. And I'm not in that world at all. No interest."
Kardashian, who is a Balenciaga brand ambassador and has starred in some of its campaigns, issued a statement on social media in November following backlash. She said she was "disgusted" and "shaken" by the images and that she was "re-evaluating" her relationship with Balenciaga.
Balenciaga issued two apologies in November—one when the scandal first came to light and a lengthier statement a few days later.
The brand confirmed one of the papers in the photo shoot for its Adidas collaboration was an excerpt from a 2008 Supreme Court ruling that upheld federal laws criminalizing the distribution, selling, or advertising of child pornography.
The Supreme Court had been tasked with deciding whether laws banning "pandering"—i.e. promoting—child pornography were a violation of the First Amendment right to freedom of speech.
Posted as a story on its Instagram account, the fashion label's apology said the campaigns "reflect a series of grievous errors for which Balenciaga takes responsibility."
"We strongly condemn child abuse; it was never our intent to include it in our narrative," the company wrote.
"The first campaign, the gift collection campaign, featured children with plush bear bags dressed in what some have labeled BDSM-inspired outfits. Our plush bear bags and the gift collection should not have been featured with children. This was a wrong choice by Balenciaga, combined with our failure in assessing and validating images. The responsibility for this lies with Balenciaga alone."
About the papers featured in the Adidas campaign, the company added they "were provided by third parties that confirmed in writing that these props were fake office documents."
However, the papers "turned out to be [real] papers most likely coming from the filming of a television drama."
"The inclusion of these unapproved documents was the result of reckless negligence for which Balenciaga has filed a complaint," the statement read.
"We take full accountability for our lack of oversight and control of the documents in the background and we could have done things differently."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Shannon Power is a Greek-Australian reporter, but now calls London home. They have worked as across three continents in print, ... Read more
