Ella Gross’s Mother Addresses Controversy Over Baskin Robbins Commercial

Ella Gross‘s mother has taken to Instagram to address the recent controversy over the Baskin Robbins commercial.

Her mother wrote a lengthy explanation about the intentions of the Baskin Robbins commercial and about her daughter, asking those against the commercial to refrain from any further hurtful comments.

View this post on Instagram

I wanted to take a moment to address the reaction that Ella received to a recent project that she worked on with Baskin Robbins Korea. I’m saddened to see how certain segments of the Korean public reacted to this commercial. What was honestly meant to be a fun commercial for a new ice cream flavor is being perceived by them as something disgusting and horrific. As most women, I have many roles in my life. However, I am first and foremost a mother, a title in which I take great pride and value above anything else. Ella is my daughter who I would gladly give my life for. It pains me that people have lashed out in such a careless and combative way. Ella continues to grow up with strong faith in God and I pray she will be a role model for other girls. What matters most is how you are on the inside. Ella is a beautiful soul because she truly does not have any bad intentions. She is one of the most hard working, strongest, sweetest, down to earth girls you will ever meet. She is intelligent, she is humble, and she really is a great girl. To those that are rallying against the Baskin Robbins commercial, stop saying that you are doing this “for Ella.” She is surrounded and loved by many strong and powerful women who wholeheartedly have her best interests at heart and who are confused and angered by your hurtful and negative reactions to a beautiful child. To Ella’s fans, her friends and family that pour love onto our sweet girl, I truly want to say Thank You from the bottom of my heart. I have realized how a few words of kindness really mean more than a thousand words of hate. I am so thankful for you all! ~Ella’s Mom

A post shared by Ella G. 🦋 (@ellagross) on Jul 1, 2019 at 8:41pm PDT

Ella Gross’s commercial for Baskin Robbins’s new ice cream flavor had received backlash from some netizens who criticized the commercial for having portrayed Ella in a “sexually-objectifying manner”.

Baskin Robbins subsequently deleted the commercial and posted an explanation of the intentions of the commercial, announcing that it has been deleted to accommodate to those who felt uncomfortable.

(The commercial) was planned to connect the image of Ella Gross, who has a confident and unique attitude despite her young age, to the image of ‘Pink Star’ and was produced after sufficient prior discussions with the child model’s parents and her agency. The commercial was filmed under the observation of Ella Gross’s parents and her makeup was done according to the standard level of child models wearing clothing from the children’s clothing brand that she is a model for. Despite the series of procedures and preparations, we have halted the exposure of the video to actively accomodate to the opinions of customers who feel umcomfortable about Ella Gross’s image in the commercial.

ㅡ Baskin Robbins