Over the weekend, the New York Times published yet another expose in this, our age of Sex Predatorgate. I have to admit, I was somewhat surprised by the names of the men being outed this time: photographers Mario Testino and Bruce Weber, arguably two of the most respected fashion photographers/portraiture photographers of the past fifty years. Dozens of models and ex-assistants spoke to the NY Times about both men, detailing everything from unwanted touching (assault) to unwanted kissing, sexual harassment and more. As is so often the case in the Sex Predatorgate Era, the sheer number of victims makes the accusations stand out: 13 models and assistants accuse Testino of misconduct, and 15 models are accusing Weber of “coercive sexual behavior” during photoshoots.
It was said, months ago, that Anna Wintour was developing new standards for photographers and fashion shoots, not just for Vogue, but for all Conde Nast publications. Allegedly, she already blacklisted Terry Richardson from shooting anything for Conde Nast, and now with Weber and Testino being outed as serial predators/harassers, Wintour had to step up and really issue a longer statement, which she did on Vogue:
The past several months have been an extraordinary time of reckoning and change, and I, like so many others, have been astonished by the courage of those who have come forward to tell stories of sexual misconduct. Abuse of power has gone on for too long in so many places—including in Washington, in Hollywood, in broadcasting, journalism, Silicon Valley, and last but not least, in fashion, where many young women and men have spoken up about manipulation and coercion on go-sees, on shoots, and in other working environments. I’m proud to say that Condé Nast is responding, here and internationally, with a new Code of Conduct, a set of guidelines for outside contributors which has emerged after bracingly honest discussions—with model advocates and agents, stylists, photographers, hair and makeup artists, set designers, and many of our own editors. The goal of these conversations has been to understand how we can create safe and positive environments for everyone we work with. These are some of the decisions we have made:
*All models appearing in fashion shoots commissioned by Condé Nast must be 18 years of age or older. The only exceptions will be those appearing as themselves as part of a profile, news story, or similar content, and they will be required to have a chaperone on set at all times.
*Alcohol will no longer be allowed on Condé Nast sets. Recreational drugs are not permitted.
*Photographers will no longer be permitted to use a Condé Nast set for any work that is not commissioned or approved by the company.*Any shoot involving nudity, sheer clothing, lingerie, swimwear, simulated drug or alcohol use, or sexually suggestive poses must be approved in advance by the subject.
Even as we stand with victims of abuse and misconduct, we must also hold a mirror up to ourselves—and ask if we are doing our utmost to protect those we work with so that unacceptable conduct never happens on our watch. Sometimes that means addressing the fact that such behavior can occur close to home. Today, allegations have been made against Bruce Weber and Mario Testino, stories that have been hard to hear and heartbreaking to confront. Both are personal friends of mine who have made extraordinary contributions to Vogue and many other titles at Condé Nast over the years, and both have issued objections or denials to what has emerged. I believe strongly in the value of remorse and forgiveness, but I take the allegations very seriously, and we at Condé Nast have decided to put our working relationship with both photographers on hold for the foreseeable future.
I get it – Wintour is between a rock and a hard place. Photographers like Testino and Weber stuck by her through thick and thin, and she feels the urge to do the same for them. Which she acknowledges, but she also acknowledges that this sh-t can’t keep happening. I don’t think Wintour’s new guidelines will do much of anything, and I do think she’s hoping that in a year or so, she can slowly bring Testino and Weber back to quietly shoot some editorials. She’s just hit pause on their professional relationships with Conde Nast – she hasn’t severed ties completely.
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
Photos courtesy of Getty.
Holy f*cking sh*t.
Again, everyone knew about Weber. Like Harvey Weinstein, like Kevin Spacey, like Matt Lauer, this is no surprise. It’s nice that it’s all coming out into the open, but so many people looked the other way and let these things happen. It doesn’t feel like enough for the men to be called out. What is to be done about the culture of complicity?
Still, she’s at least doing something I guess?
Not surprised. I think the modeling industry is probably even worse than Hollywood.
The first time I heard about Testino was when he insulted Dev Patels looks to his face.
God I totally forgot about the Dev Patel thing. What a pig
+1 Modelling industry is vile. And most fashion photographers seem like major sleaze bags.
Frankly, I’m surprised we haven’t had more fashion-related scandals and stories. Maybe the behaviour I’d so engrained that people don’t even think of it as harassment? Ditto the music industry, which has been noticeably quiet.
There was an Instagram fashion account assembling a list of #metoo modeling stories and they were horrifying, as bad as anything done by Weinstein. Some of the stories were decades old, and there seemed to be many stories from males and females both.
And I kept on thinking, as I read them – this isn’t just Terry Richardson, because many people said the photographers were beyond famous, and to not work with that person would mean never working again.
So the only persons I could think of were Richard Avedon, Mario Testino,. Bruce Weber makes sense in retrospect.
I just worked a print job with a working male model, who told me his own Bruce Weber story. It’s sad because he says that at all of his jobs with other working male models, they always ask if the other has Bruce Weber story, in a “tell me yours and I’ll tell you mine”. this model I was working with said that Bruce explicitly didn’t tell him to pull your pants down, but said “higher and lower” and “to the left to the right.” When this model asked Bruce “so you want me to pull my pants completely down!?”, Bruce got very defensive and said “I didn’t say that.” The model said to him, “my fuc*in dick is out, no it sounds like you want me to pull my f****** pants down,” and Bruce abruptly and immediately ended the shoot prompting the agency to call this model and yell at him for whatever hed done in his shoot with Bruce. It’s really sad because the agencies know that this is what this man does. But somehow Bruce thinks that because he’s not explicitly telling these models to pull their pants down, it doesn’t count as him commanding them to do these sexual things. The model also said there were a lot of straight male models who did things with Bruce thinking that it would get them a job and they felt foolish when they ended up not being hired.
It doesn’t surprise me one bit. The fashion industry is a cesspool of abuse. I signed at 14 and by 19, when my contract expired, I took my money and walked away. The amount of abuse was unbearable. I remember crying at one point when I was 19 because my hips measured in at 33 inches and my agency wouldn’t allow anything over 30 inches, they told me to “cut the cheese and sugar” and indulge in carrots, two months later I walked away and refused to renew my contract. The photographers on set were all pervs and skeevy.
Girl, same. The number of times I, at 5’11 and 115 pounds, was called “guitar-shaped” for my 32 inch hips? Ridiculous. Now I’m like 150 pounds, and people still tell me I’m skinny. That industry is sick.
Remeber when Dave Patel said that Testino told him he was not sexy/pretty/nice enough for Frieda Pinto??? Yeah…. not a nice guy.
The accusations against Weber are not a surprise if you’ve read the Michael Bergin book about Carolyn Bessette. I found the book more interesting as a male model memoir than a book about Bessette. Bergin describes going to Weber’s studio, being told to pose, being asked to remove more and more clothing until he was naked. Then Weber told him he needed to relax. He was told to lie down and then Weber proceeded to massage him, slowly moving his hands further down Bergin’s body. According to Bergin, it was kind of obvious where Weber’s hands were headed so Bergin jumped up, got dressed and left.
In addition to this, when more of the allegations against Terry Richardson were aired publicly, there was an article on the Daily Mail website which had a video interview with Bruce Weber. I don’t know why Weber was being interviewed, but he was asked about the Richardson allegations. Weber said something like if the allegations are true, it’s very sad and that Terry needs to get help. In the comments below the article, a few people called Weber a hypocrite because it’s well known in the industry that his thing is young males, and another person stated he was an agent in the 80s and 90s. This person had repeatedly told Weber and Weber’s agent that his models should not have to be naked when they went to see him but that these instructions were always ignored by Weber. Several of the models this person represented stated to their agent that it was always implied that if you didn’t do as you were told you would not be considered for a R. Lauren or C. Klein campaign. Weber, as much as I admire his talent, is an absolute creep.
I would like to highlight the trailblazing work of Sara Ziff on this. She’s been advocating and organizing against abuse of all kinds in modeling for years, including helping to craft legislation:
– https://www.instagram.com/saraziff/?hl=en
– https://moneyish.com/ish/this-bill-could-protect-models-from-sexual-harassment/
– http://modelalliance.org/2018/talent-protections-act-of-2018/talent-protections-act-of-2018
I’m very disappointed in Isabella Rosellini publicly supporting Weber. Talk about not reading the room. It doesn’t matter that he was nice to you personally …argh.
God, these revolting assholes really need to be stopped and eliminated. I’m so glad this is all revealed now. The abusers should lose their jobs and their millions.
When I was younger, I consumed fashion magazines, all of them, every month. And I remember more often than it feeling bad for the models, being put in such degrading poses. It’s gone on far too long.
This is huge. It was the NY Times cover story yesterday. Maybe you have to be in the fashion industry to understand how powerful and omnipresent these two photographers have been for decades.
Not really surprised at all. I read a book about models many years ago. The gist of the book is that most of the industry is complicit.