Kim Kardashian released a statement late last month condemning a Balenciagaphoto shoot featuring children holding teddy bears seemingly in bondage gear.
The statement came days after the controversy, a fact that Kim addressed in her statement, disclosing that she wanted to speak with members of Balenciaga to find out “how this could have happened” before publicly denouncing the campaign. Kardashian opened up on the Angie Martinez IRL podcast about being criticized for not speaking out immediately after the controversy surfaced.
“With the Balenciaga thing, everyone was like, ‘Why aren’t you speaking out? Why aren’t you speaking out?’ And I’m like, ‘Wait. I’m not in this campaign. I don’t know what’s happening. Let me take a minute to research this,’” she said at the 16:19 mark. “And then as soon as I saw what everyone was seeing on the internet and the reality of the situation, I completely spoke out and gave my thoughts on child porn and completely denounced it.”
“But because I didn’t say, ‘Fuck you, Balenciaga. That’s it,’ people got mad at that,” she continued. “So they’re mad if I don’t speak out. They’re mad if I do speak out, and if I don’t cancel.”
Kardashian also spoke about co-parenting with her ex-husband, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, and her efforts to shield their four children from any negativity surrounding Ye and their divorce. “I definitely protected him, and I still will in the eyes of my kids, for my kids,” she said at the 8:58 mark. “In my home, my kids don’t know anything that goes on (in) the outside world.”
“I’ve managed to…I’m holding on by a thread,” she continued. “I know I’m so close to that not happening, but while it’s still that way, I will protect that to the end of the earth as long as I can.” Kim said her kids “don’t know anything,” explaining that her best friends are the teachers of their school who are well aware of what’s being discussed among the students during lunch and recess.
Kardashian detailed the lengths she has gone to protect Ye in the eyes of her children. “If we’re riding to school and they want to listen to their dad’s music, no matter what we’re going through, no matter what is happening in the world, I have to have that smile on my face and blast his music and sing along with my kids and act like nothing’s wrong,” she said. “As soon as I drop them off, I can have a good cry.”
In March, Kardashian appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show where she discussed the motivation behind being protective of her ex-husband for the sake of their kids.
“I think that’s just who I am and I always saw such a good example in my mom and my dad in their relationship, so I’m always just hopeful and no matter what goes on, it’s the father of my kids,” she said. “I’ll always be protective—I always want my kids to just see the best of the best. So I just try to—as hard as it can be sometimes—I do try to ignore it and just try to do whatever’s best for the kids. … Take the high road.”
