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John Podesta, the man who served as the chairman of Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, has now been dragged into a scandal amid the ongoing uproar over Balenciaga's ad campaign.
Over the past few weeks, the Spanish-based fashion brand has been under heavy scrutiny following the release of its spring 2023 ad campaign, which featured children posing with their plush teddy bear handbags. The teddy bears seemed to be dressed in bondage gear such as fishnets, studded collars, and leather harnesses.
Balenciaga has since pulled the disturbing images and issued apologies, but they continue to face public criticism. The ongoing uproar over the scandal has allowed people to conduct extensive research, leading them to concoct theories that link this scandal to previous controversies.
The rabbit hole of ideas has spilled over into politics, now linking the Balenciaga campaign to the debunked "pizzagate" controversy, which implicated John Podesta in a human trafficking ring owing to some disturbing artwork. With high-profile personalities getting roped in, people are now convinced that the truth is being "exposed." One Twitter user wrote:
"The elite are being exposed..."
Netizens link John Podesta's old artwork to Balenciaga scandal
How is Podesta linked to the Pizzagate controversy?
A Twitter user who goes by the name Dr. Interracial and the handle @sandyleevincent brought to light some artwork reported to have been created or owned by John Podesta, a political consultant and senior advisor to President Joe Biden.
The collage of images includes a group of girls with their hands tied behind their backs and a boy suspended from the ceiling. Among the images is also a photo of Podesta and his brother, power lobbyist Tony Podesta. The tweet was captioned:
"Wait until y’all see Hilary Clinton’s campaign manager John Podesta’s artwork. #Burnbalenciaga"
The post has garnered more than 17,000 likes, with several comments accepting, without evidence, that the images are Podesta's. Many right-wing supporters have used the alleged expose to resurrect an old conspiracy theory known as Pizzagate.
Pizzagate is a now-debunked conspiracy theory that linked a number of Democratic Party officials to an organized child s*x and human trafficking ring that allegedly ran in the basement of an unoccupied pizza shop.
John Podesta attracts backlash on Twitter
Several people have been sharing images of the artwork allegedly owned by Podesta, claiming that they were right about the conspiracy theories all along. Although John Podesta has not yet commented on the ongoing accusations, netizens are convinced that the links between the two are valid.
People have begun canceling Balenciaga by trashing or burning their products. Several thousand dollars' worth of products are being destroyed, and netizens are sharing images and videos using the tag #burnbalenciaga.
The luxury house, which had earlier filed a $25 million lawsuit against the company North Six Inc. and photographer Nicholas Des Jardins—entities responsible for the Spring 2023 ad campaign—has dropped it. Instead, Cedric Charbit, the CEO of the fashion house, issued a statement saying that the brand has decided "not to pursue litigation" but to initiate a series of actions in response to the situation with the purpose of learning from its errors.
