The 48 year old New Yorker is no stranger to the kinkier
side of photography. Known for a debauch personal life of drug use, sexual
deviance and schizophrenia, it has now been revealed the full extent of his allegedly explicit and inappropriate sexual behaviour towards female models
on fashion shoots.
Terry's latest directorial controversy came with Miley
Cyrus’s Wrecking Ball music video,
which gained 10s of millions of hits in just a few hours and features the young
starlet naked and making highly suggestive motions with some conveniently
located building materials.
Yet the racy portrayal of a willing subject seems to be the
least of his worries. Several other high profile female celebs have now raised
allegations of disgusting mistreatment from the snapper – often with him
whipping out his own “snapper” during shoots.
Having worked for and befriended the likes of Lady Gaga,
Beyonce, Sky Ferreria and 30 Seconds to Mars, he stands to lose contracts with
fashion bible Vogue, high street retailers H & M, Mango and Supreme.
But it is the accusations from supermodels that have
everyone up in arms. Danish supermodel Rie Rasmussen reportedly confronted Richardson in Paris .
“He abuses his position! The industry is too afraid to say no because their
agency booked models on the job who are too young to stand up for
themselves," said Rasmussen. "I told him, 'What you do is completely
degrading to women. I hope you know you only fuck girls because you have a
camera, lots of fashion contacts and get your pictures in Vogue.'"
Her bravery in speaking out
did not go unnoticed and another model, Jamie Peck shared her experience on a
shoot with him 6 years ago, where she was asked to strip naked despite strong
objections, made to witness as the man himself shimmied into his birthday suit,
“waggling the biggest dick I'd ever seen dangerously close to my unclothed
person” and “ maneuvered over to a couch in his studio, where he strongly
suggested I touch his terrifying penis."
His photography may be
artful, but when the line between art and abuse is crossed, something has to be
done.
If you are interested the petition link is below:
https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/vogue-h-m-mango-supreme-all-other-brands-stop-using-alleged-sex-offender-terry-richardson-as-your-photographer
Words by Gemma Clark
Words by Gemma Clark
