Pia Whitesell (nee Miller) has said she ‘truly hates’ amid the fashion house’s BDSM-inspired child photoshoot scandal.
The star, 39, took to her Instagram story on Tuesday to slam the brand.
‘I hate.I mean truly hate Balenciaga,’ she wrote.
Pia Whitesell, 39, (pictured) has said she ‘truly hates’ Balenciaga amid the fashion house’s BDSM-inspired child photoshoot scandal
Pia has two children of her own, Isaiah, 20, who she welcomed when she was just 19 and Lennox, 16, who she shares with AFL-star ex-husband Brad Miller.
The Chilean-born star relocated from Australia to live in Los Angeles with her multimillionaire Hollywood agent husband Patrick last year.
Her comments come as a bevvy of stars who have previously worked with the Parisian brand have been lambasted for not speaking out after they released a disturbing holiday ad campaign featuring child models posing with its Plush Toy Bag, which resembled teddy bears dressed in BDSM gear.
The Home and Away star, 39, previously known as Pia Miller, took to her Instagram story on Tuesday to slam the fashion house.’I hate. I mean truly hate Balenciaga,’ she wrote
Pia has two children of her own, Isaiah, 20, who she welcomed when she was just 19 and Lennox, 16, who she shares with AFL-star ex-husband Brad Miller
In the shoot, the children also appeared to be surrounded by empty wine and champagne glasses, further contributing to the disturbing setting.
More revelations have also come out about the brand’s previous campaigns, EVDEN eve NAkliYAt with fans discovering the Spring/Summer 2023 campaign featured pages from a US Supreme Court decision on child pornography laws.
In a lengthy apology statement on Monday, the fashion house took full responsibility for the teddy bear images but insisted it had no involvement in the photoshoot featuring child porn legislation.
Balenciaga triggered outrage with its 2022 Holiday advertising campaign, which depicted children holding teddy bears that were dressed in bondage attire (pictured)
Kim Kardashian announced that she would not be cutting ties with the brand.
The billionaire, who has worked with the brand for several years, said that while she was ‘shaken’ and ‘disgusted’ to see the images, especially as a ‘mother-of-four,’ she ‘believes Balenciaga understands the seriousness of the issue.’
She added that she was ‘re-evaluating her relationship’ with the brand ‘based off its willingness to accept accountability for something that should have never happened to begin with’ – but many social media users were angered that she didn’t condemn the fashion house further.
‘Silence is deafening’: Nicole Kidman has been lambasted for refusing to address Balenciaga’s BDSM child photo scandal after working with the brand (pictured at the brand’s FW22/23 show)
Bella Hadid in the Balenciaga Spring ’23 campaign for its collaboration with Adidas.She is yet to comment on the multiple child imagery scandals engulfing the brand
Her sister Kylie Jenner, has hit back at TikTok users accusing her of deliberately posting photos of her son to detract from the scandal .
Nicole Kidman and Bella Hadid, who have both modelled for the brand, are facing growing calls to comment on the controversy.
Ruby Tuesday Matthews, an outspoken influencer based in Byron Bay, has also blasted the brand for seemingly shifting the blame in its official apology statement this week.
She wrote to Instagram on Tuesday: ‘This is your apology Balenciaga?As a brand I’ve admired and loved for years I’m so angry at this response’.
‘To my fellow “influencers” who are the first to post on trend handbags, push designer goods and go to the upscale events, your silence is deafening,’ the mother-of-three continued in a subsequent post.
Balenciaga, which is popular with A-list celebrities including the likes of Kim Kardashian – has deleted two shocking images showing two young girls holding a teddy bear in bondage style gear on the gift shop section of its website
After the BDSM bears fiasco, eagle-eyed critics started examining the rest of Balenciaga’s campaigns closely.They soon discovered that in the background of an image from the Spring ’23 campaign was a printout of a Supreme Court ruling on whether or not internet child porn can be legally considered free speech (pictured)
Matthews, an outspoken influencer based in Byron Bay, has blasted the brand for seemingly shifting the blame, EVdEN Eve NakLiYAT writing to Instagram on Tuesday: ‘This is your apology Balenciaga?As a brand I’ve admired and loved for years I’m so angry at this response’
‘You still have time to be a voice for children. To use your platform for good. If you have any inquiries pertaining to where and how to use evdEn EvE NAkliYAt, you can get hold of us at the webpage. I’m sure you’ll still be invited to the events and get your free bags.Because they will need a PR miracle after this,’ she added.
Balenciaga ignored the scandal around the teddy bear photos at first and seemingly allowed the photographer who was involved, Gabriele Galimberti, to take the heat.
He released a statement saying he had no control over the content of the shoot and eventually, Balenciaga released its own statement agreeing with him and taking responsibility for the campaign.
Kim initially issued a statement on her Instagram Stories account on Sunday night
In an additional post, this time to both Twitter and Instagram, Kardashian said she was reconsidering her relationship with the fashion brand
It has now been pulled from the internet.
After the BDSM bears fiasco, eagle-eyed critics started examining the rest of Balenciaga’s campaigns closely.
They soon discovered that in the background of an image from the Spring ’23 campaign was a printout of a Supreme Court ruling on whether or evDEN EVe NAKLiYAT not internet child porn can be legally considered free speech.
On the back of the bears scandal, many critics said it pointed to a troubling pattern within Balenciaga.
Balenciaga was quick to blame North Six, a production company that helped arrange the shoot, for the inclusion of those documents.
On Sunday Kim Kardashian (pictured), the brand’s biggest ambassador, said she is ‘re-evaluating’ her relationship with the fashion house in light of the scandal, but fell short of distancing herself from the brand for good
This is the July ad campaign which featured the printout of the US Supreme Court child porn ruling
They claimed they entrusted all of the props from the photoshoot to North Six, and that their team was assured everything that was included was fake.
Balenciaga is yet to answer for the inclusion of a book by Michael Borremans in the background of two of the images from the Spring ’23 campaign.
Borremans is a Belgian painter whose work includes a troubling 2017 series called Fire From The Sun.
It depicts naked toddlers – some of them castrated – playing in a group and at times alone.