NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Demonstrators gathered outside Balenciaga boutiques and retailers in several cities on Saturday to protest the fashion brand’s controversial ad campaign featuring children holding teddy bears donning BDSM-themed attire.

The protests occurred in 20 cities — including New York, Beverly Hills, London, and Nashville – where participants slammed the fashion house for promoting the sexual exploitation of children, according to organizers. Mom Army, in association with groups such as Dad Army, Freedom Forever, and Gays Against Groomers, planned the demonstrations outside Balenciaga flagship stores and other high-end retailers that carry the brand.

“We are mothers, we are consumers, and we are taking a stand: stop putting profit over our children,” Lucy Riles, an organizer with Mom Army, told The Daily Wire at a Nashville protest. She said she was “fed up with the sexualization, exploitation, indoctrination, child mutilation, and all these agendas that are happening right now in this country and the climate.”

The French fashion brand, which celebrities like Kim Kardashian often wear, came under fire last month after its website displayed images featuring its “Toy Stories” campaign that showed child models posing with the brand’s teddy bear handbags, with the bears dressed in BDSM-themed gear from its Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2023 collection. Such images contained children holding plush toys dressed in such gear, including fishnet tops, studded leather harnesses, and collars with locks.

Another image displayed documents from a 2008 Supreme Court opinion, United States vs. Williams — a federal statute prohibiting the “pandering” of child pornography, which reaffirmed the PROTECT Act, a federal law that increased penalties for sexual exploitation and other abuse of children.

Balenciaga has acknowledged the ongoing scandal, saying last Monday that it could have “done things differently.” The company says it “strongly condemns child abuse; it was never our intent to include it in our narrative.” It also said it is taking steps to prevent something similar from happening again.

Balenciaga creative director Demna has also issued a public apology, accepting responsibility for choosing the “wrong artistic choice of concept” in the brand’s recent controversial campaign. “It was inappropriate to have kids promote objects that had nothing to do with them,” Demna wrote in an Instagram statement Friday.

Outrage against Balenciaga has remained.

Landon Starbuck, the wife of former congressional candidate Robby Starbuck, is the leader of a Nashville-based conservative non-profit called Freedom Forever. She told The Daily Wire that America “won’t tolerate” the “sexualization” of children, adding, “Exploiting children is not fashionable, and that’s why we’re all here today.”

Another protester named Chrissy, known online as “Trans for Trump,” insisted, “My community is not in unison with the message that’s being sent out here,” reiterating support for the Balenciaga protests.

“What is being perpetuated out there now is harming children, it’s harming my community, it’s harming society,” said Chrissy. 

Several cars that drove past the Nashville demonstration honked their horns in support of the organizers’ message. There were a few disruptions during the event, but everyone remained peaceful.

Brandon Drey contributed to this report. 

The incoming House Democratic leader was challenged Sunday to answer for past comments questioning the legitimacy of Donald Trump’s presidency.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who is poised to succeed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) as leader next year, was shown a clip of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) labeling Jeffries a 2016 “election denier” who suggested Trump was a “fake president.”

“It’s unfortunate that Republicans have chosen to focus on me,” Jeffries said. “House Democrats are going to focus on solving problems for the American people.”

George Stephanopoulos, the host of ABC’s “This Week,” pressed the issue during a Sunday interview, noting Jeffries did raise doubts about Trump’s legitimacy. He also stressed that Republicans are making this a “big issue.”

Asked again to respond, Jeffries focused on the “Republican playbook,” in which he said, “facts don’t matter, hypocrisy is not a constraint to their behavior, and in many cases, they believe shamelessness is a superpower.”

He appeared to be alluding to how Trump and his allies claim the 2020 contest, won by President Joe Biden, was stolen, though election officials and the courts have rejected their accusations of widespread fraud. This followed the 2016 election, in which some Democrats questioned Trump’s victory, often pointing to alleged Russian election interference.

Jeffries claimed his “view of the situation has been pretty clear,” explaining his position in detail.

“I supported the certification of Donald Trump’s election. I attended his inauguration, even though there were many constituents and others across the country pushing me and others to do otherwise, and found ways to work with the Trump administration, being the lead Democrat in negotiating historic criminal justice reform,” Jeffries said.

“That track record speaks for itself. At the same time, I will never hesitate in criticizing the former president. I think I’m in good company there throughout the world,” he added.

Jeffries also downplayed the chances of Democrats seeking a compromise with Republicans to elect the House’s next speaker if Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) fails to garner the 218 votes needed in January, as his party will have a narrow majority and there are a handful of Republicans voicing opposition to McCarthy’s ascension to the role.

“I wouldn’t say that it’s a possibility,” Jeffries said. “Right now, Democrats are preparing to get ourselves ready as we transition temporarily from the majority into the minority.”