Fans are calling out celebrities who attended Balenciaga’s runway show one year after the brand’s controversial holiday campaign scandal

• Balenciaga held its pre-fall 2024 fashion show on Saturday in Los Angeles.
• The star-studded affair took place one year after Balenciaga’s controversial holiday campaign. 
• Some fans are calling out celebrities online for supporting the “canceled” brand. 

Fans are calling out celebrities who attended Balenciaga’s most recent fashion show following the brand’s controversial holiday ad campaign last year.

Balenciaga hosted its 2024 pre-fall fashion show on Saturday along South Windsor Boulevard in Los Angeles. The star-studded affair counted celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Brooklyn Beckham, Nicole Kidman, Teyana Taylor, Victoria Pedretti, 2 Chainz, and Lil Wayne among the guests. Cardi B walked in the show, strutting down the runway in a fuzzy blue trench coat.

Footage and photos shared online showed celebrities enjoying the event, which thoroughly confused some internet users on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“I thought Balenciaga was supposed to be canceled,” one user asked underneath a video of Cardi B walking the runway.

The tension surrounding Balenciaga unfolded in November 2022 after it released a “Gift Collection” holiday campaign on social media. The advertisement featured young children holding teddy bears outfitted with bondage gear.

The campaign immediately garnered backlash from people who accused Balenciaga of sexualizing minors. Balenciaga’s creative director, Demna Gvasalia, apologized for the campaign and the advertisement was pulled from social media, but many still boycotted the brand. Among the critics were conservative influencers, including Blaire White, who has over 500,000 X followers.

“I rarely boycott, but Balenciaga is cancelled for me. I’ve spent thousands of $ on them, but now I’ll be donating my items to the nearest homeless shelter,” she wrote.

On TikTok, the hashtag #cancelbalenciaga had 70 million views at the time and featured several videos of Balenciaga customers shredding their bags in protest.

Celebrities, including Kardashian, also called out Balenciaga over the advertisement.

“As a mother of four, I have been shaken by the disturbing images,” Kardashian wrote on X in November 2022. “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.”

But the boycott seemingly ended for some celebrities during the show on Saturday, causing internet users to label the stars in attendance as hypocrites.

“These celebrities do not stand on business when it comes to these brands,” one person wrote under a post on The Shade Room on Instagram.

One X user shared similar sentiments while discussing a video of Kardashian meeting “SkeeYee” rapper Sexyy Red at the show.

“So the fake outrage of Balenciaga sexualizing children is over huh,” they wrote.