Balenciaga faced a scandal in November 2022 due to a series of problematic advertisements that featured imagery related to child sexual abuse, BDSM motifs in ads featuring children, and other controversial elements. The backlash against the images was swift, with the hashtag #cancelBalenciaga trending across Twitter and TikTok, and many accusing the brand of promoting kiddie porn and sex with children. Balenciaga issued apologies and removed the advertisements from its social media channels. The company also took legal action against the production company North Six Inc, which was responsible for creating the set and including unapproved items for the Spring 2023 campaign photoshoot. Balenciaga terminated its professional relationship with the photographer Ye, who made anti-Semitic comments during and after Paris Fashion Week, and who mentioned the controversy over Balenciagas campaigns while speaking to paparazzi. Balenciaga also faced a $25 million lawsuit, which it later dropped, seeking damages for "all harm resulting from the unauthorized use of the Teddy Bear sculpture". The scandal led to widespread industry support towards North Six and Des Jardins, and Balenciaga announced ongoing "internal and external investigations" and "new controls". The scandal teaches business owners to be careful about every step of the marketing process and to take responsibility for their actions swiftly and show their customer base actionable changes that they are making to ensure that the mistake is never repeated.