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Eating For Free

The Balenciaga Files (Part One)

Eating For Free

Joan Summers and Matthew Lawson

Society & Culture

4.8536 Ratings

🗓️ 1 December 2022

⏱️ 86 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In our new two part series, we seek to unpack the controversy around Balenciaga, and the malicious fascist forces whipping up a 24/7 moral panic news cycle concerning the brand's latest campaign photos. Who stands to benefit from the outrage, and who might lose everything? 

We also would like to preface that this episode concerns frank and serious discussions about sexual assault, trafficking, and the like. We do not take these discussions lightly, nor do we wish to downplay the legitimacy or importance of these discussions.

Links:

  • Balenciaga says it's sorry for holiday ads depicting children holding teddy bears in bondage gear [Fortune]
  • Balenciaga 'BDSM teddy bear' photographer speaks out amid backlash [NY Post]
  • After teddy bear backlash, Balenciaga announces lawsuit for separate ad [Washington Post]
  • Kim Kardashian 're-evaluating' Balenciaga relationship over child images [Washington Post]
  • When High Fashion and QAnon Collide [NYT]
  • Kanye West on Balenciaga campaign scandal: 'All celebrities are controlled' [Page Six]

About:

Hosted by journalists Joan Summers and Matthew Lawson, Eating For Free is a weekly podcast that explores gossip and power in the pop culture landscape: Where it comes from, who wields it, and who suffers at the hands of it. Find out the stories behind the stories, as together they look beyond the headlines of troublesome YouTubers or scandal-ridden A-Listers, and delve deep into the inner workings of Hollywood's favorite pastime. The truth, they've found, is definitely stranger than any gossip.

You can also find us on our website, Twitter, and Instagram. Or buy our merch! Any personal, business, or general inquires can be sent to eatingforfreepodcast@gmail.com 

  • Joan Summers: Twitter: @laracroftbarbie
  • Matthew Lawson: Twitter: @_matthewlawson

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

You're probably not doing your back to school shopping at Balenciaga, but some people apparently are.

0:05.0

So this week, Balenciaga rolled out a new ad campaign on Instagram, and the selling point of the ads was sex with children.

0:12.0

One photograph showed a very young girl lying face down on a couch with candles, empty wine glasses, and a dog collar on a coffee table in front of her.

0:26.3

Another picture showed the same girl, a toddler, holding a teddy bear dressed in sexual bondage gear, including a leather harness.

0:28.3

But we're holding the Christian Christ principles first.

0:33.4

America is a Christian country.

0:37.0

Another issue I have is the fact that Elon won't reinstate Alex Jones.

0:42.3

The following episode contains frank and somewhat serious discussions involving topics and repeat uses of the words like child porn, trafficking, sexual abuse, and so on.

0:57.9

These discussions are not ones that we take lightly, nor do we use these words lightly,

1:02.7

and we wanted to give you a warning before listening to the episode in case those things

1:08.1

are potentially triggering or hurtful to listen to or hear for an extended period of time.

1:15.8

Likewise, this episode is not meant to further sow any division in what is already such a volatile topic,

1:23.5

and instead we hope to bring a level of understanding and clarity to what has become an increasingly hostile situation on the internet and in real life.

1:35.3

We hope you listen with an open heart and with an open mind.

1:38.3

And we appreciate the fact that you're listening at all.

1:41.3

Now, let's get on with the show.

1:43.3

Come on, if you know the words, let's go.

1:45.8

What do I think of her?

1:46.6

Yes.

1:48.4

I don't think of her.

1:50.6

Bitch a red wine and a swishia.

1:54.0

I think you get the bitch, bitch.

...

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