In a new episode of her podcast, the 'Real Housewives of New Jersey' star claims that she's unaware of the scandal surrounding the luxury fashion brand as she was on vacation in Paris at the time.
- Dec 8, 2022
AceShowbiz - Teresa Giudice has broken her silence after receiving pushback for wearing Balenciaga amid the brand's controversy. In a new episode of her podcast, "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" star claimed that she's unaware of the scandal surrounding the luxury fashion brand as she was on vacation in Paris at the time.
Of the backlash, the 50-year-old TV star said in the Wednesday, December 7 episode of her PodcastOne show "Namaste B$tches", "I was embarrassed." She went on adding that she "did not know" that Balenciaga was under fire for its latest BDSM-themed campaign featuring children.
Teresa explained that her husband Luis Ruelas, who originally posted the pictures of her wearing Balenciaga sweater during the vacay, "checked out of social media completely" while vacationing. "I brought a sweater, I totally forgot I had it from last year, I never wore it, and I brought it because I heard it was chilly there in Paris, and it was a great sweater to wear during the day," she shared.
Her husband was the first one to notice that something was wrong when he saw fans started leaving negative comments about Teresa supporting the Spanish brand. "I had no idea, but I guess Luis looked more into it, and then he took it down," Teresa added. "He didn't feel comfortable with it being up."
In the now-deleted snaps, Teresa could be seen wearing a white sweater with the Balenciaga label printed all over it. Taken during the couple's trip to city of love, the photos saw the Bravo star posing excitedly in various places.
The post immediately drew backlash with one fan commenting, "We love you but burn that balenciaga!!!!" Another fan wrote, "Love you Tre but take off that sweater girl!" One other urged, "@teresagiudice I love you but please do not endorse this brand. You'll see why, it's disturbing."
A user, meanwhile, decided to cancel Teresa right away as writing, "Balenciaga…GREAT, another person to unfollow! You do realize there are normalizing child bondage, right? Are you ok with that? Shameful! UN FOLLOW!"
Balenciaga came under fire for involving child models in its BDSM-themed campaign for its Spring/Summer 2023 collection. The children were seen holding stuffed animals that appeared to be wearing bondage-inspired outfits.
After removing all posts on social media, the brand issued an apology in a statement that read, "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's safety and well-being."
