Fashion house Balenciaga has decided not to take legal action against the photographer behind the 2022 photo shoot that featured children holding teddy bears in BDSM-themed gear but will instead go after those behind the campaign that featured a Supreme Court decision regarding child porn.

There were two separate photo shoots that enraged people. After intense blowback, Balenciaga pulled the campaign with the children and the teddy bears and has profusely apologized for it. The company has deemed that world-renowned photographer Gabriele Galimberti is not at fault in the matter. It’s a different situation with the other campaign, where the case on child porn was deliberately placed in the shoot, according to the Daily Mail.

Galimberti claims he’s the target of a “lynching” over the holiday campaign that was pulled and that he had no say or control over what he photographed.

“Balenciaga is not taking any legal action towards Gabriele Galimberti, the photographer of the Holiday campaign, that includes a child holding a teddy bear bag. Gabriele Galimberti was not involved in any way with the Spring 23 campaign involving unsettling documents in an office,” a Balenciaga spokesperson told the Daily Mail.

It was so great to see @KimKardashian use her platform to condemn antisemitism.
Let’s see if she’ll use that same platform to condemn the blatant child pornography documents being promoted in #Balenciaga ads, since she is one of the faces of the brand. @khloekardashian—you too! https://t.co/u8jpRnR8XE

— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) November 22, 2022

The spokesperson went on to say that the company will be “taking legal action against the parties responsible for creating the Spring 23 set and including unapproved items for that campaign photoshoot.”

The picture that caused the uproar was an excerpt from the 2008 US Supreme Court opinion in United States v. Williams, which upheld part of a federal child pornography law.

The photo is being attributed to American photographer Chris Maggio, according to Newsweek. However, Maggio will not face legal action either over it.

“Chris Maggio was a photographer for the Spring 23 campaign. There is no legal action being taken against him. He did not create the set nor have anything to do with the unapproved items within it,” the Balenciaga spokesperson stated, providing cover for the photographer.

the brand "Balenciaga" just did a uh….. interesting… photoshoot for their new products recently which included a very purposely poorly hidden court document about 'virtual child porn'

normal stuff pic.twitter.com/zjMN5WhZ0s

— shoe (@shoe0nhead) November 21, 2022

The Big Short of this Balenciaga scandal is going to be if Adidas manages to get out without people realizing the image containing child porn papers was a Balenciaga x Adidas collab, completely separate from the BDSM Gremlin Clutch photos.#BoycottBalenciaga pic.twitter.com/FE6EGjLdiG

— Hoop (@xhoop) November 23, 2022

When the spokesperson was questioned on who the company planned to sue, they would not comment. They did state that those behind the shoot were contracted for that set alone and are not full-time employees.

Galimberti wrote on Instagram Wednesday, “Following the hundreds of hate mails and messages I received as a result of the photos I took for the Balenciaga campaign, I feel compelled to make this statement. 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 chose the products, nor the models, nor the combination of the same.”

“As a photographer, I was only and solely requested to lit the given scene, and take the shots according to my signature style. As usual for a commercial shooting, the direction of the campaign and the choice of the objects displayed are not in the hands of the photographer,” he defensively added.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Gabriele Galimberti (@gabrielegalimbertiphoto)

The fashion house issued an apologetic statement over the explosive photo shoot, “We sincerely apologize for any offense our holiday campaign may have caused. Our plush bear bags should not have been featured with children in this campaign. We have immediately removed the campaign from all platforms.”

“We apologize for displaying unsettling documents in our campaign. We take this matter very seriously and are taking legal action against the parties responsible for creating the set and including unapproved items for our Spring 23 campaign photoshoot. We strongly condemn abuse of children in any form. We stand for children safety and well-being,” it continued.

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.