Meghan McCain blasted Balenciaga, as well as Kim Kardashian and Nicole Kidman, over the fashion brand’s BDSM-themed photo shoot featuring kids and argued that she wasn’t participating in “cancel culture” by calling them out.
The former co-host of “The View” wrote an op-ed in The Daily Mail on Monday headlined, “Balenciaga sexually exploited kids to sell a revolting fetish — and I’ll never buy the brand again. So why the hell is Kim Kardashian STILL standing by them.”
The ad campaign featured “little girls posing with handbags shaped like teddy bears, but the bears wore bondage gear,” McCain wrote, adding that “in some pictures, the child models are standing on beds. In another a sleepy looking girl lies on a couch near wine glasses.” She went on to describe the images as “sick.”
New @DailyMail column:
Why the hell is Kim Kardashian STILL standing by Balenciaga? https://t.co/Jno0LBghac
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) November 28, 2022
McCain said that the more she dug into the company’s ad campaigns, the more upset she became. She noted that one photo from one of the ad campaigns showed “a handbag on top of a pile of scattered documents,” and that “one of the pages is from a Supreme Court decision on child pornography laws.”
She accused Balenciaga of trying to “shift blame to the production company and set designer behind the shoot.” But she said the idea “that these highly produced and — without a doubt — expensive photo shoots were not closely supervised and reviewed by every executive, photo editor and stylist in the company just doesn’t fly.”
McCain then lashed out at those linked to the campaign and company, like Kidman and Kardashian.
“Nicole Kidman, also in the 2023 ad, reportedly hasn’t said a peep,” McCain wrote before noting that Kardashian did respond and vowed to re-evaluate her partnership with the fashion house.
“For the record, I think she’s a coward for not immediately cutting ties with Balenciaga and I predict this choice will haunt her for years,” McCain wrote of Kardashian. “The bottom line here is that grownups are supposed to protect children – period. And as a society, we seem to be failing the most innocent and vulnerable, who have no advocates but us.”
“Why in this instance are celebrities being so understanding?” she added. “I will never buy another piece of Balenciaga clothing ever again … I am not comfortable giving money to any company, who not only enables the sexual exploitation of children, but also doesn’t seem [capable] of taking responsibility for the heinous bile they have injected into society.”
“In fact, I don’t know if there is a coming back from this level of scandal for Balenciaga,” McCain continued. “… Let’s be clear, this isn’t cancel culture. This is about protecting children. And adults need to step up.”
Related: ‘The View’ Hosts Admit They Can’t Even Show Balenciaga ‘Fetish Themed’ Ad With Children