Kardashians Deny Slave Labor Allegations, “They absolutely have no knowledge of this.”

More drama for the Kardashian family. This time the clan is being accused of condoning the use of slave labor in the factories that make their clothes and shoes. On Wednesday a Star Magazine report was released, suggesting that items from the K-Dash by Kardashian, Kris Jenner Kollection, and ShoeDazzle lines have been made in Chinese sweatshops.

What exactly is a sweatshop? Basically, it’s a terrible a** work environment that employees work in. Usually, employees are forced to work unreasonable hours (sometimes 7 days and 84 hours a week) , under harsh conditions, live in filthy housing complexes, and receive unfair pay (sometimes $1 per hour). Employees are sometimes as young as 16 years old.

Now that the Kardashians have heard about the allegations, they have quickly come forth to dispute them. They claim that the allegations are untrue, but if  the investigation proves these allegations true, they will not condone the continuation of such slave labor. The spokeswoman for the family, Jill Fritzo, said,

“They absolutely have no knowledge of this and would never condone this, which is why we checked this out when it was brought to our attention today.”

Kris Jenner (mother and manager of the Kardashian sisters) said,

“As far as I know, the factories that are used to manufacture the Kardashian clothing and shoes have nothing terrible going on at all. The factories are very well policed and meet factory standards.”

Furthermore, representatives for the ShoeDazzle company also dispute the assertions wholeheartedly. The company claims that they have a full time employee who lives in China and inspects their factory working conditions everyday.

Nonetheless, a human rights group is now investigating the case. So far they haven’t found any evidence to prove that the assertion is true, but the investigation is still in it’s beginning stages. Charles Kernaghan, the executive director of the Institute of Global Labour and Human Rights, said that the factories the Kardashians use are located in southern China, which is known for it’s sweatshop labor. He said,

“We’re in the initial stages of research. It takes a long time to find these factories and get people inside, so our investigation hasn’t been launched yet. We’re still going forward with the investigation and I would be completely flabbergasted if they’re good factories. In these areas, typically these are low wage sweatshops. Workers typically work 12 hours a day and still go back to filthy dormitories, enduring 100-degree heat… You can’t talk during working hours, you can’t listen to music, you can’t stand up and stretch. You can’t even put your head up and look around, or you will be screamed at… If we can get people into these factories I feel we’ll find something.”

Let’s hope these allegations are not true. Stay tuned!

[NY Daily News, Radar Online]

-@Kami2Kute