Balenciaga, the high-end fashion brand that helped launch the modeling career of Kamala Harris's gender-defying stepdaughter Ella Emhoff, is under fire for an ad campaign featuring young children holding teddy bears dressed in leather bondage gear.
Alas, the nepotism beneficiary has yet to denounce Balenciaga for publishing images described by Kanye West's celebrity ex-wife as "disturbing." Kim Kardashian finally addressed the controversy on Sunday following an intense backlash from her fans.
"As a mother of four, I have been shaken by the disturbing images," Kardashian wrote. "The safety of children must be held with the highest regard and any attempts to normalize child abuse of any kind should have no place in our society—period."
Balenciaga has apologized for the ad campaign and acknowledged that children should not have appeared alongside the "plush bear bags dressed in what some have labeled BDSM-inspired outfits." Nevertheless, many celebs with ties to the controversial fashion brand have refused to comment on the scandal. That includes former first lady Michelle Obama, who was widely praised for wearing $4,000 Balenciaga "thigh-high glitter boots" in 2018.
Emhoff's modeling career mysteriously took off after her stepmom was elected vice president. She signed a contract with IMG Models in January 2021 just days after Harris and President Joe Biden were sworn into office, and walked the runway at her first fashion show that February. Emhoff's second runaway appearance came during Paris Fashion Week in July 2021, where she modeled the Balenciaga fall couture collection.
Ivan Bart, president of IMG Models, told the New York Times that Emhoff exemplified how being a model is "not really about shape, size or gender anymore," though some questioned whether there was anything particularly revolutionary about the rich, white, tall, and thin Brooklynite with tattoos and armpit hair.
Bart, as it so happens, was an early max donor to Harris's failed presidential campaign. IMG Models is part of an entertainment conglomerate run by Patrick Whitesell, who donated more than $150,000 to Democratic candidates and committees during the 2020 election cycle, and Ari Emanuel, brother of former Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.
Emhoff's blatant efforts to parlay her stepmother's influence into professional success have led some observers to label her as "Hunter Biden 2.0."
Emhoff's reps at IMG Models did not respond to a request for comment.
