Kylie Jenner under fire for failure to pay Bangladeshi workers amid Covid-19

US reality TV star Kylie Jenner and Rapper Cardi B have faced huge criticisms on social media for reportedly refusing to pay workers in Bangladesh.

The Global Brand Group, responsible for their clothing line even cancelled its ongoing orders and cut workers in both Los Angeles and Bangladesh, reports Showbiz Cheatsheet. 

The decision has affected as many as 50,000 workers, most of whom are women and are ineligible to receive government assistance, the report added. 

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bae

A post shared by  Kylie 🤍 (@kyliejenner) on May 27, 2020 at 1:18pm PDT

Kylie’s fans commented on her instagram posts demanding that she pay the factory workers from her own pocket, if necessary.

Even though the 22-year old was recently stripped of her billionaire title, she is still worth a staggering $900 million and can more than afford to pay workers for the work that they have completed, the report further mentioned.

The reality TV star has 182.3 million followers on Instagram.

One fan on instagram wrote: “How about not exploiting foreign workers and honouring your contracts during a GLOBAL EPIDEMIC?!” 

#KylieJenner has turned comments of because she doesn’t want backlash for not paying garment workers in Bangladesh 😳😳😳😳 #payup #payup pic.twitter.com/ZMH7STjTjP

— ☮ (@Z_N_R_) June 22, 2020

“Rather than launching and showcasing ur products pls #payup Bangladesh for the garments product. You guys are showcasing the world ur luxury but cheap. You are not even paying the workers’ wages, sick,” another fan wrote.

The situation became worse when Kylie started deleting her Instagram comments which mentioned to pay the dues of the workers.

Following the deletion of posts, fans took to her sister American model Kendall Jenner’s Instagram page to vent their anger.

Kylie Jenner refusing to pay her workers in Bangladesh just makes me question how someone can be granted riches/finer things their entire life and still be stingy 😳

— jayda 🔅 (@jcara_) June 23, 2020

A petition “#PayUp” campaign has been created by fans of Cardi B and Kylie exposing multi-million dollar brands, with over 78,000 signatories demanding a fair pay for the workers. 

Petitioners also demanded that the workers be hired back on contracts which would prevent them from being exploited, reports The Express Tribune.

The Global Brand Group has been quick to jump to its defence, according to Popbuzz.

The brand’s CEO Rick Darling said: “Given the unpredictability of the situation, our retail partners have cancelled orders, and existing inventory and product in production may have no sell-through.”

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

— 🐉💫✨ (@shoecheetah) June 23, 2020

He made the comment after it was discovered that workers were not being paid for garments that had already been made in February and March.

“Consequently, we have no choice but to make the difficult decision to cancel all S/S 2020 orders from all suppliers (without liability),” he added.

But both Cardi B, who is worth $24 million, and Kylie who is worth $900 million, are yet to comment on the matter, the report concluded.