As I noted last week, NYMag has been preparing a pro-Terry Richardson story (as another alleged victim told her tale). The article has arrived, and it’s such a hot sycophantic mess. The piece is titled, “Is Terry Richardson an Artist or a Predator?” It’s a loving portrait of the artist as a young creep. And an older creep too. The piece goes into great depth about Terry’s unconventional upbringing. His parents got divorced, and he heard them getting it on with other lovers. His childhood was full of travel and chaos, and POOR Terry.
All of the prominent Terry controversies are discussed in this article, which is a sympathetic take on his “art.” You can read the whole NSFW article (with some explicit photos) here. I’m only talking about Terry’s direct quotes from the piece. He blames the internet for everything. He completely denies offering a Vogue shoot for sex (the Emma Appleton story), and he touches upon (I think) the most disturbing account of all (the Charlotte Waters story). He maintains that every “interaction” he’s ever had with a subject has been completely consensual:
Poor Terry: “It’s insane, the internet. Totally craziness. Like a little cancer. People can just do whatever they want, say whatever they want, be totally anonymous. It’s totally out of control.”
What’s with the teddy bear fixation? “I don’t know. Not consciously or whatever. I don’t know, I like that film Ted. It’s great. Teddy bears are great. A lot of that stuff is, I don’t think about, What theme should I explore? Teddy bear. Terry bear. I don’t know. But they’re comforting, bears.”
On the Emma Appleton story: “‘I’ll put you in Vogue,'” Richardson said bitterly. “So corny. Ridiculous. Who talks like that? When people call me a pedophile and f—ing bullsh-t, that’s a horrible thing to say about someone.”
Terry’s on predator accusations: “It was never just me and a girl ever. It was always assistants, or other people around, or girls brought friends over to hang out. It was very daytime, no drugs, no alcohol. It was a happening, there was energy, it was fun, it was exciting, making these strong images, and that’s what it was. People collaborating and exploring sexuality and taking pictures.”
Assistant Leslie Leslin denies being an “enabler”: “I would never, ever stand around passively while anyone was being taken advantage of or made to feel uncomfortable. That is simply not what happened.”
Terry on Charlotte Waters: “When I was taking those pictures. I was very, like, ‘Cool, sounds great, let’s do it, great, okay, sure, great, cool, if not, no problem, never do anything you don’t want to do, of course, I totally respect that.'” He makes the point that agents and bookers shouldn’t encourage their clients to take on assignments that will make them uncomfortable.
Terry on his life’s work: “I don’t have any regrets about the work at all, but obviously I don’t ever want someone to feel like that. It was never my intention. But also, people do things, and then they have regrets, and that’s also nothing to do with me. Then don’t do pictures like that again … I’m okay with myself about everything, and that to me is the most important thing.”
He denies sleeping with La Lohan: “LiLo … Somehow she said we spent a romantic night making love at the Chateau Marmont. Which never happened. Then, on the internet, people are like, ‘He did this and that.’ But it’s totally untrue.”
[From NYMag’s The Cut]
Did you catch that last quote? Even Terry Richardson denies getting busy with Lindsay Lohan. I think there’s a fair chance they did sleep together. He took lots of photos of her at the Chateau, and she was staying in his permanent room for awhile. Terry is finally worried about his own image, so he’s distancing himself from even more trouble.
One thing I learned: Terry’s daily rate of pay is $160,000. He earns that much money from magazines to throw up a white wall, some bright lights, and some suggestive props. His creepy behavior with young models in his own studio? He does that for free.
Photos courtesy of NYMag, Terry Richard’s revolting diary & WENN
As soon as I see this guys picture, my first instinct is to call 911…
I dry heave.
Right there with ya.
And great call on gross Terry, I think you nailed it.
…and it’s so obvious from his comments here that these things really did happen. I mean, not that we didn’t already know this, but he pretty much confirmed it with his statements.
He sounds like such a stereotypical predator here with the justifications and denials. I wish we had a video of this interview because a body language expert would probably have a field day with him.
TOK, yes. He doesn’t even allows the question that he might have compromised young girls. Someone pointed that out when it was about Woody Allen. They don’t even acknowledge that they might have done something wrong. He thinks everything’s fine. He must have very serious issues when he doesn’t realize that what he does is utterly wrong.
He puts the shivers right through me what a disgusting creep
Yes to you all!
The 911, the dry heaving, the dismissive nature of that line of questioning.
He’s a sex offender under the guise of artist and photographer.
We have loads of opinions and beliefs here from people around tthe world. We can strongly disagree with eachother on a variety of topics. That said we always seem to agree this pos is scum. I was going to say man, but we all know that doesn’t apply here outside of anatomy.
I wish there was a big X across his face so I don’t have to keep seeing it every time I refresh this page to see the new comments.
Agree with all of you too!
Must call 999 here though! What a disgusting creep/abuser showing all the red flags!
He plays so many word games, like predators do.
I find it interesting that he says “I’m not a pedophile”, but that isn’t what he is being accused of. He is accused of sexual assault, but not pedophilia. Also, he mentions that “there were always assitants around”…which doesn’t contradict his victim’s claims. Also, he mentions bookers and agents…but IIRC, Charlotte Waters was contacted directly and didn’t have an agent or booker.
He sounds a lot like Jerry Sandusky to me. “It was just love/exploring/being creative”. Ugh.
Yes! So on-point with the Sandusky comparison.
Yet again, poor, defenceless, ‘fashion industry power player’ Terry is brutally victimised by just-starting young models who do things ‘with’ him and then turn around and accuse poor Terry of being predatory in the ways with which he acts towards his ‘artistic goal’.
Why is there even the highly insulting question of whether he’s an artist or a predator???
WHY??? Because the question means that as long as he’s making AARRT, then end justifies the means??
This piece is in the highest example of Misogyny 101.
Because in this rape culture we live in! Victim blaming is the name of the game. Because they didn’t say ‘No’ means they were 100 percent into everything that was done to them. Instead of being retrospective about his actions in all of this, and actively wanting to change himself and his ethical behaviour, he opts to tell us that essentially… We should take 100 percent responsibility for allowing him to spill his protein shake in our faces. Is that around about right, or did I get it all wrong here??
Am I a young hollywood ‘feminist’ now?? *rolling eyes*
Precisely… but it’ s not that hard to understand that this is the norm when you think that instead of teaching men how to respect women, we teach women how to not act or dress in a provocative way because if you do and you get molested, then you’ ve had it coming! It’ s disgusting!
I totally agree. What disturbs me about this piece is that he seems to feel no responsibility for his actions at all.
Rape culture rearing its ugly head once more.
Jesus, he is a disgusting predator. It doesn’t matter if he is an artist, he is a predator and to set up this false dichotomy is disgusting and stupid.
And people wonder why more of his victims haven’t spoken out, with pieces of filth like this printed basically excusing what he does and blaming it all on them for not saying no loud enough, all in the name of ART. And I too seriously side eye anyone who is still friends with this disgusting excrement.
Classic predator behavior. Throw shade at the victim, call everyone else a liar or wrong, deny and twist words. I just wish the fashion world would STOP putting up with-actually celebrating-this type of person. It’s sick, sick, sick.
Oh come on. How is Terry to blame when models walk in. Do things he asks of them and then leave ashamed and depressed for days if not longer.
Ugh I felt truly awful even typing that bit of sarcasm. His reasoning shows his manipulative nature.
JWQ wrote, “instead of teaching men how to respect women, we teach women how to not act or dress in a provocative way because if you do and you get molested, then you’ ve had it coming!”
It is so gross, right? Did you see boxer Floyd Mayweather’s instagram post?
He wrote, “How a female dresses is her advertisement. If a female shows half of her body, she’s asking to be disrespected. If she dresses classy, expect to be treated like a lady. How you’re addressed lies on your attire. Sexy is a spirit, not an outfit.”
@ Tiffany ↑+7
Yeah his assistant does the dirty work sometimes
In 2004, Lessin was described in a profile of Richardson in the New York Observer as the “stylist friend” who approaches potential models in a Soho Starbucks on the photographer’s behalf.
“It was sort of like watching someone else do it, someone who couldn’t possibly be me because I would never touch a creepy photographer’s penis,” Peck wrote. “The only explanation I can come up with is that he was so darn friendly and happy about it all, and his assistants were so stoked on it as well, that I didn’t want to be the killjoy in the room. My new fake friends would’ve been bummed if I’d said no.”
“He also had these two male assistants there,” Peck recalled over the phone. “But I remember Lessin as being very gung ho about everything. She was encouraging me the whole way, like isn’t this fun? Isn’t this cool? Everything is A-OK.”
They’re as disgusting as he is.
Notice how he never actually denies anything. Never denies vogue, just says it’s weird and corny someone would say that. He says they were never alone, of course Lessin was there. He just says words at the girls ‘never do anything you’d be upset about’ while he whips it out. I’m actually wondering if he actually does believe it’s all consensual. Creepy, gross, and messed up.
Get this guy away from girls and get him help ASAP.
He doesn’t regret anything because if he didn’t use these tactics while holding the position he was born into, he would never get action. His personality and looks are repulsive and repugnant. He uses his influence and intimidation to prey on people. Hollywood is probably okay with it since some stars made their way up the ladder through the casting couch. It doesn’t make it okay.
I will never understand how some men are fine with wielding their power or money to get sex. Don’t they ever feel bad that the women aren’t actually attracted to them? I think his entire MO is to humiliate people. That’s what drives him. He knows he’s an ugly F who no one legitimately wants, so he gets off on punishing people for his own ugliness, at least that’s my take on it.
Right. I think he probably believes because he wasn’t holding a gun to his victim’s head, that they were engaging in this behavior on their own free will.
This man is incredibly disgusting and very dangerous. I have a feeling that if he didn’t have his career to uphold (why he even has a career at all is beyond my understanding), he would be involved in much more violent, misogynistic behavior.
Kiddo, that makes sense. Somewhere in his twisted mind, he sees himself as a victim, entitled to take what he wants.
‘Bookers shouldn’t encourage their clients to take jobs that make them uncomfortable’. See, its the bookers and model’s fault – they shouldn’t take a job in the first place where they’d be uncomfortable being assaulted by Terry. Duh.
He’s repellent. But I also think that while it’s virtually impossible for young unknown models to make stand against this creep, I can’t understand while powerful experienced models don’t resist these attempts to pornify them. Just tell him to eff off Kate.
Everything about this THING disgusts me. He is oily, sick and what’s worse, people excuse and enable him.
What I also notice is that – other than the LL thing – he never actually DENIES a single thing. He just says, “Who would talk like that?” or says it’s awful that people say these things about him.
most sociopaths are, terry. most sociopaths are.
Yes, I think he really is a sociopath. His behaviour is anti-social (to put it very mildly, please don’t get mad with me!) he shows very little empathy or remorse and his sexual behaviour is to say the least disinhibited.
The PCL-R model, used to define psychopathy also includes pathological lying as well as cunning and manipulation, callousness, denial, early behavioural problems and failure to accept responsibility for one’s own actions.
The glib, superficial charm is how he’s getting away with it (the Showbiz/Fashion worlds are built on glib and superficial). His actions are clearly criminal and like many of those with a psychopathic personality disorder he lies, denies and denigrates his victims. In short, he needs locking up before a real tragedy happens and it scares the life out of me to think that may only a matter of time.
Ag – he’s the classic profile sociopath. Totally remorseless.
agreed.
I agree. Psycho
I hope one day he’ll get karma up his derriere. F**king creep !
Hahahaha. Even a sick – – – – like Richardson likes to distance himself from the Lohan well traveled tunnel of love! Now that is RICH! YOU have really hit rock bottom when Richardson denies sleeping with you.
As for the rest……….blah blah blah blah! As IF he was going to admit to his CRIMES!
“An artist or a predator” … Because no one has ever been both.
This man makes me vomit in my mouth.
This was my first exact thought!
I’m not shocked that he takes absolutely no accountability for making his models feel uncomfortable, even if done inadvertently…
Ugh.
Sleeping with Lohan is the last of his pr troubles.
Okay. A couple of things.
1) That cover: shudder.
2) His “art”: Hahaha.
3) Let’s assume he’s completely innocent, that he didn’t do any of the things numerous women have accused him of, which – while unlikely – is possible. If that’s the case, wouldn’t you wonder why it is that all these models have accused you of unprofessional (to say the least) behavior? Why “the internet” seems to hate you? Wouldn’t you engage in a bit of self-reflection, a bit of self-criticism? Wouldn’t you want to try and find out what it is that makes people uncomfortable about you, your work and the way you go about it if it’s so terrible to be accused of these things and they’re so not true?
And if you were innocent, wouldn’t you sue the women publicly making these statements for libel? It’s harder to libel a public figure under US law, but it’s not impossible.
You could argue that a lawsuit would result in the “Streisand effect”. I guess at this point it’s really only people who spend quite a bit of time on blogs and gossip sites (and industry insiders, obvs) who even know who Terry Richardson is and who are aware of the allegations. Although this cover story will make more people aware of him and his “activities”.
Or at the very least, start tapping your sessions as proof that you didn’t do anything wrong as security measure against future claims.
The fact that an alleged pedophile is being glorified by Hollywood makes me sick to my stomach. What is wrong with his supporters? When was molesting young girls something that could be disregarded? I’m just appalled. As someone who has been the victim of molestation as a five year-old, this support from others sickens me.
He is glorified in Hollywood because it is filled with pedophiles, molesters and abusers. He’s within his element and with his own kind. It’s sick.
That’s sadly the truth.
Trust, if the mainstream media goes full tilt on Richardson’s creepy activities – and criminal charges are Penn State level – Hollywood would throw Uncle Terry under the bus. The media will name every celeb and mag that worked with this creep; and they would have to release statements that they had no knowledge of his perving so not to be tarred with the same brush.
Why are you calling him a pedophile? All of the girls that have come forward with their accounts were of age.
That we know of.
Well by definition we know about the one’s that have come forward.
One cannot accuse someone of pedophilia without any evidence at all. The victims of pedophilia are (by definition) children, generally under the age of 12, i.e. pre-pubescent. Richardson has done a lot of questionable things (to put it mildly) but he hasn’t photographed children in the nude.
Don’t lose sight of what were dealing with here: sexual exploitation, predatory behavior, not pedophilia.
Of course he has no regrets-there are still tons of people and publications who are totally willing to overlook his reputation as a predator in order have him take snaps of them. For some reason they still have cachet. Sad.
This ^
I’m sure you don’t have regrets, Terry! Why the hell would you? Nothing’s ever going to happen to you because of your behavior, and you have no personal conscience to be bothered with regret.
Michael K called him “the white windowless minivan of photographers”. So perfect.
Well that’s ok then.
Of course he is okay with himself and his actions, just like any other predator. In his mind he has done nothing wrong. Unfortunately he is not the only creep photographer taking advantage of young women who desperately want to be in this industry. What a creep. The industry needs to take a stand, not just against him, but by making changes to ensure these girls, especially the underage ones, are safe. Abuse should not be an industry standard and exploitation should never be expected or tolerated…EVER.
“All of which is perplexing to the photographer, who finds himself maligned as repugnant for being the same person who was once broadly celebrated.”…….of course it is…total sociopath!
‘In Praise of Feeling Bad About Yourself’
by Wislawa Szymborska – 1976
The buzzard never says it is to blame.
The panther wouldn’t know what scruples mean.
When the piranha strikes, it feels no shame.
If snakes had hands, they’d claim their hands were clean.
A jackal doesn’t understand remorse.
Lions and lice don’t waver in their course.
Why should they, when they know they’re right?
Though hearts of killer whales may weigh a ton,
in every other way they’re light.
On this third planet of the sun
among the signs of bestiality
a clear conscience is Number One.
http://poemsetc.blogspot.com/p/poems-by-wislawa-szymborska.html
That is a fabulous poem, thank you for posting that and the link, I’ve never heard of this poet before and shall be mooching off immediately to have a read – Cheers 🙂
You are awesome, Penny Lane. That poem is so right on the money! Thanks for sharing, and I’m going to pass it on.
An apt poem, truly. Thanks for sharing this.
i scrolled past the article (because i know i’d have wasted my meal), and gone straight to the comment….
it’s like a whole universe of gross has opened up and…. ewww.
thanks NY Mag for helping me lose weight.
Yeah, so did I. But once your food settles the article will make it come up again.
All of his assistants are just as crazy as he is. This article did him no favors and the author made sure of that. At least I think he did.
The scariest thing is I think he may actually BELIEVE these encounters were consensual! That’s horrifying!
I don’t think he really believes that.
I think he does. I think he’s convinced himself of it.
He’s also managed to surround himself with many people who seem to enable his behavior or turn the other way. This is definitely by design-he wants to create a strong barrier of protection for himself .
I really think so @SIGHS. It would explain why he’s so shameless. Usually these pieces of crap are more careful about exposure. This guy is a demented, deluded predator; a very bad combination.
I’m not sure. If he does, then why does he have this assistant around to chauffeur the girls home and convince them it was all ok? She’s his cleanup crew. Every girl that has come forward has described that this assistant spends a lot of time with them afterwards convincing them it was all good, they liked it, right? It seems on some level they know what they are doing is wrong.
Exactly, Claire. He’s a first class manipulator. There would be outright denials if he really thought what he was doing was completely ok.
Chronic sexual offenders are expert at grooming their victims. He’s probably able to determine in a very short period of time if the models are vulnerable enough to play his game.
I’ve seen his pictures before and been disturbed by them. I’m sure the models are typical of the industry, but their extreme gauntness makes them appear very young. The female is always in a submissive (denigrating) position and typically performing oral, or even worse, wearing the results. I know that’s typical in straight male porn, but this is supposedly isn’t that.
The tumblr link sited in the article was even more disturbing to me. In one pic, he’s, as typical, standing there with his penis hanging out, but there is a woman holding a small dog up to it. The dog’s head is turned away from him which obviously implies what they were trying to get it to do, and that it was reluctant.
There’s also a pic of a kneeling woman who’s dressed provocatively, as a toddler is gripping her breast and nursing (somehow it’s made to look sexual). Oh – the mother is also holding a shotgun. Very, very disturbing to me.
He looks like he drives a circa ’85 van and patrols neighborhoods offering children free puppies or bikes. What a creep.
Exactly. Looks like a creepy snake waiting for his next victim to show up. Maybe law enforcement should take a look into his past. Wouldn’t be shocked if they found something. Disgusted yes, shocked no.
He should be on an episode of Law and Order SVU.
He looks like the kind of guy you see hovering outside of truck stop bathrooms.
Yes. Ugh. And I get a kind of Woody Allen-esque vibe from him reading his comments.
Michael K. nailed it by calling him the human white windowless van!
He believes what he does is fine because there is someone else as a “witness” and his assistant is in complete denial. What sick, sick people. And he’s a horrible photographer.
His assistant isn’t in denial. She/they are predatory just like him.
His assistant is a predator, too. She’s not in denial. She pursues these women for him, grooms them too, and covers up his messes.
You’re right. I was just commenting on her statement. So sick, both of them.
Exactly. She is just as culpable as he is.
Who came up with this ‘Uncle Terry’ moniker its sickening.
he did.
it’s in the article, right under the picture of him and Mac Culkin.
“He’d tell models to call him “Uncle Terry.” In interviews, he’d say things like “I was a shy kid, and now I’m this powerful guy with his boner, dominating all these girls.””
Annnnnd, there goes my subscription go NYmagazine.
There’s provocation, and then there’s courting a sexual predator.
I am not sure what NY Mag’s intentions were, but the results are terrible. This article makes Richardson look even worse than before. Way to go, NY Mag!
NY Mag may have, intentionally or not, destroyed Richardson’s hope for rehabilitation.
Well, at least something good came out of it then.
I think they were aiming for edgy and hard-hitting. That really only works if there’s some ambiguity to his guilt.
That, and actively trying to frame him as a victim. My eyes just about rolled out of my head at the first sentence and how it tried to set him up–subtly, I reckon they thought–as some poor guy who got displaced by a big ole slick fitness chain (poor guy, he’s a victim to big corporate greed!).
I couldn’t even read the whole article. The first paragraph told me where they stand, and where they stand is right in a pile of stinky cow manure. Up to their ears. They’re full of it. And so is that creep, Terry.
Blech.
I actually thought NY Mag’s article was relatively even sided. I read the whole thing (and yes it did make me sick). He came across as a disgusting creep, which we all know he is. They gave him the opportunity to give his side, which is fair. The fact that even then he comes across as gross is telling.
So, so disappointing that this was published at all.
Uh, yeah? Hello, predators, pedos, abusers — they have endless excuses, blame to deflect, and not once will they take responsibility for their actions. They always blame the victim. Not surprising.
This is disgusting. To hell with him and to hell with NY Mag for publishing this defense and enabling this asshole.
Calling this moron an artist is shameful. This is a dude that takes pictures, like so many that don’t get paid with enormous amounts of money and don’t come on their models’ faces. The Internet did not damage him, the Internet just took dirtbags like him out…or here’s hoping that will happen.
And that girl, his former assistant, that says that she likes her nude pics and feels liberated (girl, there are people in this world that REALLY lack freedom!)…if you ask me these people have too much freedom of expression and too much free time on their hands – hard manual labour is what they need, let’s get Tom Cruise on the phone, maybe he needs some slaves. Maybe Richardson and Tom Cruise can become BFFs now that they were both taken down by the Big Bad Boy Internet.
People need to be smart in order to handle their freedom. Richardson and Co. obviously are not.
I saw that cover and was just so mad.. First the way the picture makes him look innocent and pure.
Gross. I side eye everyone that works with him and is friends with him. The thing that I LOVE is all those covers and photoshoots he has done with some of them is boring and less successful.
So maybe that is the beginning of KARMA.
I think he fashions himself as like Andy Warhol, whose “happenings” at the Factory were pretty infamous day when they happened. But see, here’s the thing – I’ve read plenty about Warhol and heard a lot of the people who were there speak. None of them have ever brought up being coerced or forced to do anything. It was all very consensual. Maybe if it were only one woman, Terry would have a point. but it’s not; it’s at least a dozen, by my account. And he hasn’t seem to learned at all. If you were accused of sexual impropriety during a really charged photoshoot, wouldn’t you perhaps rethink your methods – that even if nothing illegal happened, maybe you made this person feel so uncomfortable that they felt wronged? Obviously, he doesn’t.
Just to expound on the differences between the two:
Most people speculated Warhol was asexual and he was a self-confessed virgin. He wasn’t a predator who lured people into his studio to manipulate them into sexual acts, but rather a benign and curious observer.
Unlike Terry, Warhol wasn’t creating an artificial environment in order to orchestrate the things that happened around him, he was a voyeur who had an obsessive desire to document every thing in his life-whether through film, paper, or paint-there was never any malintent behind his actions. If anything, he was a shy and lonely soul who tried to surround himself with wild people to compensate for an introverted-bordering-on-bland personality.
Wow OK. Thanks for a bit of insight on Warhol. Did not know all that.
If, as he says, all these acts were consensual, if he would never do anything to make girls feel uncomfortable, then why doesn’t he just ask them? Why is the onus on his models to object rather than on him to gain enthusiastic consent? There are plenty of women who would volunteer to have sex on camera if he asked…
Why doesn’t his contract state, “Shoot may include participation in sexual acts with the photographer and others. Shoot will halt immediately at the request of any party.” You know? If he gives a sh*t about consent at all, you’d think he’d want to protect himself against this kind of thing.
The reality is, it’s the lack of consent he gets off on. It’s having that power over young, vulnerable girls. He’s despicable.
And he’s a crappy photographer too.
Agree with everything you’ve said. Obviously, his contracts don’t say that, or he’d have them out and be waving them around for everyone to see as evidence he did nothing wrong. I’m guessing a lot of the time there were no contracts anyway, because his intention was never to use any of the photographs professionally. His intention was to use his position as a professional photographer as a ruse to rape teenagers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Narg09bbnHE
Rapist glasses!!!
Vom.
He doesn’t even issue a straight forward denial. Just whitewashing & excuses (OMG! Art! Consensual!) for his skeevy behaviors & predatory nature.
Disgusting guy
Sure he doesn’t have any regrets…because he doesn’t have a soul.
LOL
Agreed! Psychopaths are not capable of having a conscience and are the “soulless” among us.
No one called him a pedophile. He was called a sexual pervert who preyed upon younger women of legal age and groomed them when they came in for a “shoot” and then used them sexually and did degrading things to them. He has no regrets because he is a sexual pervert who practically rapes and molests women. Females are objects for Terry Richardson, not human beings, unless they are famous
Lady Gaga is friends with this man, collaborates with him. Yet she is the person who gave an interview about how she was used by older men in the industry when she was 18, 19 trying to make it in the business, so much so she didn’t have sex with men for a couple of years and was with women. She was so traumatized by how she was used and spit out like garbage she wrote a song called Swine. Yet, she collaborates with the likes of R. Kelly and hangs and works with Richardson, She has issues.
I’d say she definitely has issues and that’s probably why. Most women who are abused sexually or objectified are torn between feeling dirty and wanting sexual attention.
I have to say, I have a really hard time with women who claim they were abused repeatedly when they are adults and have control over their bodies and decisions. I can see it happening once and learning from it, but continually? No matter how gross, how disgusting the men are, she allowed it and basically sold herself to get ahead. She continues to sell herself out for fame, not literally, but figuratively – working the known hebaphiles, pervs, and creeps. She still cares more about fame and money than morals or ethics – and I could care less what she does in her personal life. I’m talking about who she associates with and helping them further their undeserved success and fame.
Read the whole article. So disturbing. It’s clear he legitimately believes he’s the victim and has a crowd of yes men confirming that. I don’t think he abused all his models, just the ones who worked for free and had no real name for themselves. This indicates he knew exactly what he was doing IMO. Good for those that refuse to work for him! I am really skeptical and upset that magazines and ad agencies are using the whole “we have no current plans to work with him” line. It sounds like an out.
Yes he knows hot to zoom in on those who are the most vulnerable.
Ugh. Just ugh to that whole apologist article.
Abusers never think anything is wrong with their actions.
Um…yah…spoken like a true narcissist. Anybody with 1/2 a brain above the age of 30 has regrets. We may be “okay” with ourselves, but a huge part of maturing and responsibility is owning mistakes, learning lessons and trying to be a better person. He speaks like a child.
Haven’t there been online petitions to get magazines to stop using this creep for shoots? To my mind, this article now provides the fuel needed to push more petitions like it forward. He essentially admits that those events happened, but he calls it consensual, doesn’t see it as predatory or an abuse of power. I wonder how many mothers of young aspiring models feel the same way? I wonder how many women’s advocacy groups feel the same way?
It’s so incredibly frustrating. No one cares about petitions. Honestly. I feel like it’s such a hopeless powerless situation to stop this guy. All the power is in the hands of the magazines that keep booking him. A petition isn’t going to do anything…so what will it take?!
Nah, magazines don’t keep publishing things that their audience does not want. In order to make them stop, they need to lose their audience eg people need to stop buying these magazines. Not that I ever bought NY Mag, but I definitely won’t ever buy it now. Petitions help get the word out but more does need to be done. The consumer needs to realise that they have the power to shape the world, most of the world is defined by businesses. Businesses are nothing unless they are getting your money.
I’ve never seen a photograph this guy has taken that seems interesting or inspired.
Every person on this site could do as well or better with a camera. And i’m not exaggerating.
There have been lawsuits against him (9) settled privatetly.
Read the whole article. They talked about it.
The article in so many words depicts a freak who uses “art” to justify his sexual desires. He says his actions are due to pain. What a load of bullshit. What you have is an ugly, middle-aged man who uses his influence to degrade and use women sexually. These are women who would otherwise not give him a second glance – and he knows it.
WHY do people in the industry think he’s a good photography — or good enough to deserve $160,000/day and continue to pay him that much even with all the controversy? I really don’t get it. I think his “art” is sh*t and can be done by any teenager in his parents’ basement.
Richardson’s photo is under the definition of “nepotism.”
This guy repulses me so damn much. I really hope for the day to come when some model finally gets some strong evidence of him and his creepy acts and put him behind jail.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jun/17/terry-richardson-new-york-magazine-model