This video was brought to you by me sitting here currently in my underwear,
because apparently Candace Owens has an issue with disabled people
being out and about whatever in their underwear.
So hi.
So it seems that some ruckus has occurred while I was in Toronto for a minute.
And Candace Owens, who you may know as a very conservative
commentator around on the Internet, and TV, I'm assuming, made some comments
about disabled models being shown in a campaign for SKIMS.
And you would see these disabled people who are wheelchair users in their underwear,
modeling it in their wheelchair, made a real big moment about it and everything.
Found an article- let's read it and go over it, shall we?
Now, I am not a wheelchair user.
I am an ambulatory wheelchair user, but really only at airports.
The only time you will ever really see me using
mobility aids out in public outside of an airport,
the only thing you will really see me using is a cane, but never a wheelchair.
But I'm still disabled and this is what I do.
So "in a recent episode of her podcast, Candace Owens, a conservative
political commentator with a YouTube subscriber count of 1.4 million,
expressed her views on disability representation in fashion campaigns.
However, her remarks have generated a wave of outrage from members
of the disabled community and their allies.
Owens' remarks around the SKIMS Adaptive Collection by Kim Kardashian
that features a disabled model in the campaign includes phrases
such as, 'I really
I don't understand how far we're going to take this inclusivity thing.
I really don't get it.
And if I am wrong, educate me.
A model in a wheelchair seems ridiculous.' and 'Whose idea was this?'
'Was it your idea?'
'OK, you're fired.'"
First of all, you know what?
Kim Kardashian, I give credit where it's due.
Good on you for making an adaptive collection and also
putting a disabled model in the campaign, especially since
(INDISTINCT) and maybe I should probably end up talking about this later.
I think Levi is trying to use AI for disabled models or somebody out there
trying to use auto images for disabled models in their campaigns.
OK, really, Candace, is this is taking it too far?
How is it hurting you
that a disabled person, a wheelchair user, is a model
and is modeling the clothes that are made for this line?
How is this any different from a non-disabled person
modeling clothes from this brand that aren't even part of this line?
And I don't- something tells me you're not complaining about that
too much, if ever.
How is this hurting you besides
just wanting to complain about something, to complain about something?
Isn't this the part where conservatives tend to, like,
make fun of Liberals and Democrats and whatever, and they just say,
you want to complain about anything and make an outrage out of anything
just to do it?
Do you see this mirror back here?
I would like to hold it to you.
Are you not doing this? Why?
I don't understand how this hurts you or literally anyone else for that matter.
"Haleigh Rosa, a model, disability rights advocate and founder of foreveryone.foundation,
was one of the first people to speak out against Owens' comments.
Rosa is paralyzed from the waist down after a car accident.
She is a wheelchair user, and since her accident,
she has become a prominent advocate for disability rights.
She has collaborated with several high end fashion brands,
including SKIMS, Off-White, LVMH, and Tommy Hilfiger.
'After getting injured, I remember not seeing anyone like me in campaigns.
At the same time, I was relearning simple tasks like clothing myself.
It would have been so helpful to see someone in a wheelchair.
I'm so happy that we're finally coming around. Seeing someone like you matters.
Representation matters.'"
And so I ask, Candace, what is wrong with that?
And how does this hurt you,
that it's happening? It is not complicated.
Understanding that seeing people like you
when you don't really see people like you out in the mainstream
and really big things especially alongside a name like Kim Kardashian.
This is not rocket science.
It is not hard to comprehend why somebody would feel better seeing themselves.
And maybe you don't care about that for yourself. OK.
But what is it hurting you that somebody else cares about that?
Tell me, what about your day changes because somebody in a wheelchair
is modeling something.
Did you lose your day job?
Did you have something break in your house?
Did something bad happen to you the moment that this happened? No.
So what's the big deal?
"When Rosa saw Owens' comments, which included an image of Rosa modeling
SKIMS and heard the statement that it was 'ridiculous'
for a woman in a wheelchair to be part of the campaign, she was shocked."
I would be, too, because how is it ridiculous to be part of a campaign
that is literally made for these people?
It's an adaptive clothing line for disabled people.
How is that ridiculous that a disabled person is modeling for this?
Tommy Hilfiger has an adaptive line. Disabled models,
friends that I know personally, modeled these clothes for a reason.
"Rosa stated, 'it's
so often assumed that the disability community should be felt bad for.
The people I know that have disabilities are some of the most resilient people.
Wheelchair users will not agree with Owens' views.
If Owens truly wants to educate herself, she can reach out to me.
I'm not one for cancel culture.
I believe in the power of education.
I'd love to have a conversation and educate Candace.'"
I don't think Candace needs educating. Listen, I'm not, I'm not opposed
to educating the masses, OK?
That's obviously what I do as a job, as a career.
For a decade now. I don't think something I
so simple as this- Candace is not incompetent.
OK. There's no way, she's not incompetent.
There are people who just want to be purposely obtuse
because it makes them money.
And that's what I fully believe is happening here.
She knows why it's a big deal.
She knows why it's a good thing.
But she also knows that being opposed to
it is going to make her so much more money and give her so much more attention.
Than if she just went along with that.
That's what I truly believe. "Paula Carozzo,
creator and disability rights activist, was also outraged by Owens' comments.
Carozzo has garnered an audience of over 100,000 followers
through her advocacy work and has worked with several high profile brands.
Carozzo, who was diagnosed
with a non-traumatic brain injury at the age of five, believes that attitudinal
barriers are the most difficult to overcome for the disability community.
Carozzo stated, 'for the disability
community, we are at the current peak of representation.
Representation for us is as vital as the lungs we need to breathe.
We have worked so hard for such a long time.
No bully should be able to show up
and make assumptions of what we need and want.'"
And Helya, who is the founder of Slick Chicks, an adaptive underwear company,
who I have done work for in the past, also made a comment:
"'As founder of a company with a very clear and decisive mission,
I do not stand with any agenda or statement where women attack other women
for a sound bite
or highlight reel, much less generalize about an entire community.
It is hard
enough to make it as a female in business and those who are in a position of power.
with a large audience should use it to speak on the merit of whatever
topic is in question.
Not to minimize for the sake of doing
so or speak without a basic set of knowledge.
Personally, I started this company on the floor
of my NYC apartment without a single cent to my name over a decade ago.
It is that struggle that has built these products
in tandem with the community who has built with us. That same community,
which is being called into question, had also struggled. Together,
that is what has made us stronger.
My hope is that we all feel
actualized to have produced an original set of clothing,
which I hope has made even the smallest of impact on those who are part of
the Slick Chicks family.
Basic necessities are not dubbed luxuries for the very definition of the word.
Basic necessities are a human right.
We love, support, and champion an entire community of marginalized people
that want and deserve to be seen and respected.
That is how we started and how we will always use our platform.
Our company was not built to check a box.
It was people who inspired my first design and it has been
those same people who have driven growth, which Slick Chicks is proud to embody."
Also, when you have models who are disabled,
they know what it's like to use these
clothes. Yes, anybody can sit in a wheelchair,
but you have wheelchair users who have various disabilities
and those disabilities mean that you will wear clothes in a different way.
You have to wear clothes in a different way.
And to see various disabled models now, in the future, in the past,
whatever, wearing those clothes, demonstrating those clothes
is so much better than having some random non-disabled person
wear them, because now disabled people have a real idea,
not a fake idea of how or possibly how the adaptive underwear,
a body suit or whatever is going to work.
A wheelchair user who has a disability that really just affects their legs
and nothing else is going to wear it differently
than, say, a wheelchair user who also has some sort of limb
difference. Chronic pain can also play a factor in this type of thing.
Having Bella Hadid or someone or even Kim Kardashian
herself- Kim's not really a model, is she? But she is the owner of the company.
So it wouldn't surprise me if she would model her own clothes.
Those two modeling these clothes
is not going to be the same because they are non-disabled, to my knowledge.
They are people who are not disabled, so they're not going to know
how adaptive it's really going to be.
Unlike, say, Lolo, or Angel, or Rosa- that's her last name, not her first name.
But you know where I'm going with this.
"In conclusion, the disabled community has been working tirelessly to break down
attitudinal barriers
and create more inclusive spaces in all areas of life, including fashion."
And how is that a bad thing? It's not.
I think it's wonderful.
"Owens' comments were harmful and demonstrated a lack of understanding
of disability rights, accessibility, and representation."
Is it a lack of understanding or is it a lack of caring?
Is really my question. "Carozzo says, 'attitudinal barriers really
create our default setting of perceptions and behaviors.
And these are the barriers that the disability
community works day and night to shift.'"
Candace Owens has been asked to comment and the story will be updated
if a response is received."
And I'll be honest, I don't think you're really going to get it,
especially because this was posted on the 21st of March.
Anyhoo, yeah, I really don't see why this had to be a big deal.
Why this had to come with the comments that were made?
It's not a big deal.
I mean, it's a big deal for the disabled community because this is a good thing.
A huge name in the world, such as Kim Kardashian's name
and her brand have an adaptive clothing line
which you never really saw from a whole lot of people in the past.
And now, slowly, more and more brands-
I don't know how many right now- but as far as mainstream big name brands
go, Kim Kardashian's brand, SKIMS, and Tommy Hilfiger,
those are two big names that are contributing
and that's a good thing. That will help the smaller businesses like Slick Chicks
and whoever else also be able to grow, because now people are going to look more
and more into that.
And who knows maybe one day, Slick Chicks can have a collaboration
with these companies if that hasn't already happened already
at some point. There was no need to make this as big of a deal negatively.
As it was.
There wasn't really any need to make this such an uproar
and act like it's the worst thing that could happen.
It doesn't affect you, Candace, in any way that you think it does.
Yes. Candace is allowed to have an opinion.
I know people are going to start screaming First Amendment. As am I, as is anyone else.
You can have an opinion.
And I can say you're silly for this opinion because that's what it is, just silly.
Anyhoo, with that all being said,
Now I'm going to go check out SKIMS and see what all is there,
because to be honest,
I had never really paid
that much attention to it, except for when a friend of mine posts
some stuff of the dresses and whatever on TikTok, so I'm going to go look that up.
You can leave your thoughts on this whole fiasco down
below in the comments With that all said and done,
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Thank you for taking the time out of your day to watch this video.
I will see you later, bye.