Kylie Jenner slammed for 'not paying' apparel workers in Bangladesh, angry Internet says 'stop buying her s**t'
Global Brands Group, the company behind Kendall and Kylie Jenner's clothing line, has reportedly refused to pay their Bangladeshi factory workers, leaving thousands of people "starving". It has canceled orders due to the coronavirus pandemic and has also laid-off workers in Bangladesh and Los Angeles while docking their pay and offered no promises of when they will be back in operation. The closing of the Los Angeles factory has drastically affected nearly 50,000 women who are also ineligible to seek government assistance due to their immigrant status. The 'Keeping Up With The Kardashians' star has come under fire for it from enraged fans.
The news broke out on June 22, as a popular Instagram account, Diet Prada, accused the clothing brand of not paying its factory workers in a since-deleted post with a headline that read, "Former 'billionaire' Kylie Jenner and sister Kendall's clothing brand won't pay its factory.” On June 1, Remake, a non-profit organization against exploitation in the fashion industry, called on the Kendall and Kylie Jenner, as well as other celebrities, to pay the factory workers for all the work they put in before the business shutdowns brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It’s no secret that COVID-19 has hit people of color the hardest. In the context of fashion, brands and retailers have en masse canceled produced and in production orders dating as far back as February, evoking the force majeure contract clause to leave them scot-free and without any liability to suppliers," Remake wrote in the post. "As a result, factories are facing a severe liquidity crunch, with the women who make our clothes placed in the most vulnerable situation. No longer receiving pay, despite having already done the work, these women are quite literally at risk of starving to death.”
A petition created by the #PayUp campaign, exposing multi-million dollar brands, has already garnered over 78,000 signatures with demands to pay the workers fairly and provide them with contacts to protect them from exploitation. Global Brands Group was quick to defend itself as the accusations arose. When it found out that it was being criticized for not paying workers for garments that had already been produced in the February /March timeframe, the company's CEO, Rick Darling said, "Given the unpredictability of the situation, our retail partners have canceled orders, and existing inventory and product in production may have no sell-through," reports PopBuzz. He added, "Consequently, we have no choice but to make the difficult decision to cancel all S/S 2020 orders from all suppliers (without liability)."
Teen Vogue connected with a representative for Kylie over email who clarified that “The Kendall + Kylie brand is owned by Canada Inc. The brand does not produce in Bangladesh. So [these allegations are] not accurate.” However, the rep did say that Canada Inc and Global Brands Group worked together previously in "a sales capacity for Europe and South America for sales only" and that it has been "several years" since their work collaboration ended. In the email, the rep also said that Remake has been notified of the clothing brands relationship with Global Brands Group, and it "has taken the brand down from the site and is in the process of deleting their current social media posts.” Global Brands Group also informed Teen Vogue via email that it will have no affiliations to the brand and “the logo will be taken down from the site.” It also confirmed that “CAA-GBG is the Brand Management Division of Global Brands Group (GBG) and does not design or manufacture any product for Kendall + Kylie. CAA-GBG functions exclusively to connect International retailers to the Kendall + Kylie brand.” The Instagram account, Diet Prada, has amended its post and included the new information.
Remake also posted an edited statement on their Instagram handle in light of the new information. “On June 11, we shared with you that Global Brands Group (affiliated to KENDALL + KYLIE on their website up until TODAY), had refused to pay garment workers for orders produced in February + March following a drop in sales caused by the coronavirus pandemic," the post read. "One day later, the KENDALL + KYLIE brand Instagram account shared their intent, to ‘better our industry and better each other’ which was ironic given the lack of response or commitment to #PayUp. Today, [Remake] received word from a KENDALL + KYLIE representative that they do not have ‘current’ orders with Global Brands Group and will pursue legal action if we didn’t remove our posts and apologize," the group explained in the caption "We ask: do KENDALL + KYLIE know who makes their label? And if the women have been paid during the crisis? Until we receive clear answers from the team that KENDALL + KYLIE have proof they paid garment makers, we will not back down.”
Meanwhile, Twitter users are fuming at the news, and many took to the platform to express their opinion on the same. "Kylie Jenner is the perfect example of performative activism. Posting about BLM on her social media just to appease her fans. But behind the scenes her companies are unwilling to pay poor (mostly female) garment workers in Bangladesh. Make it make sense", one user commented. "Kylie Jenner is not paying the Bangladeshi factory workers. The fake plastic materialistic 'Instagram' lifestyle of these celebs are literally starving innocent people to death," said another user. "She has profited off of black culture, she doesnt pay her workers in bangladesh and her daughter is black but instead of spreading awareness about blm she cries and says guys i am a billionaire," a third added.
"AGGRESSIVE REMINDER kylie jenner doesnt pay her clothing line workers in bangladesh. these workers are already live in poverty. STOP BUYING HER S**T", another user concurred, while some likened her refusal to pay workers to slavery. "Kendall and Kylie Jenner not paying their factory workers is actually slavery...and y’all will still support those lil white girls. I’m not understanding," a user tweeted. Another said, "Kylie Jenner turned off her ig comments once people started demanding she pay her Bangladeshi factory workers. She’s a self proclaimed 'billionaire' and mother and is leaving her workers and their families to starve. Nice."