Model and publishing heiress Lydia Hearst may not have any children of her own, but that is not stopping her from breastfeeding in a controversial new ad.
The 31-year-old great-granddaughter of publishing giant and former New York Rep. William Randolph Hearst appears in a new ad for Equinox gym’s 2016 campaign.
#CommitToSomething… @Equinox https://t.co/Q4V49AUveV pic.twitter.com/1Ytxw1B0q2
— Lydia Hearst (@LydiaHearst) January 4, 2016
A caption on the ad for the luxury fitness club reads “Commit to Something.”
In the photo, Hearst’s bare breasts can be seen hanging out of a black cocktail dress, as she nurses a pair of infants inside a restaurant.
The snap is garnering a mixed reaction.
A rep for the breastfeeding advocacy organization La Leche League of New York shared her support for the new ad with Fox News.
“My initial reaction is great,” Leigh Anne O’Connor said. “Let’s normalize breastfeeding. Of course, the image more glamorizes the situation but I don’t have a problem with that because breast feeding is an everyday thing that is done at home in pajamas, out at weddings or movie theatres or restaurants, both fancy and low key.”
Meanwhile, one female commenter on Hearst’s Facebook page unloaded, calling the image “disgusting on two levels.”
“1.no one wants to lose their appetite at dinner by seeing breastfeeding and boobs not being covered up (gross)…it takes away the rights of other diners,” wrote the woman.
The commenter added: “2. They aren’t even her kids (gross)…….and furthermore, I breastfed….but I excused myself or covered up…WHY do some women think that their right to breastfeed in public means that they have to whip out an entirely naked boob just to make a point WHY?”
“Equinox is about commitment – we are obsessed with it, and we challenge our members to know who they are and what they want,” Equinox Chief Marketing Officer Carlos Becil said in a press release, according to PEOPLE. “The concept of commitment is bold, incredibly powerful, and it’s real, especially in a world today where commitment is lacking.”
Equinox ads have been criticized in the past for being controversial. The upscale gym’s 2013 ad campaign featured provocatively dressed models in sexually suggestive poses, but had little to do with fitness.
Other photos taken for this year’s “commit” campaign include a mostly nude man laying on a sofa covered in money, the commencement of an apparent five-person orgy, and a topless screaming feminist.
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