This is one of the most bizarre blackmail/extortion plots I’ve ever heard of. I fully expect it to be part of a future Law & Order: SVU episode (because it involves a minor). Here are the basics: Cindy Crawford and her millionaire Gerber heir husband Rande Gerber were victims of a blackmail plot by one of their former nannies and one of the nanny’s “acquaintances”. The blackmail involved a photo that the former nanny took of Kaia, the then seven-year-old daughter (who is now 8 years old) of Cindy and Rande, tied up on a chair during part of a “game”. When the nanny and this random person tried to blackmail Cindy and Rande for $100,000, threatening to sell the photo. Which is really, really gross. Anyway, it seems like Cindy and Rande contacted the authorities straight away, and everything is now a criminal and legal matter. Here’s more, including a statement from Cindy and Rande’s rep, from Us Weekly:
Cindy Crawford and her husband Rande Gerber are the latest celebrities to be ensnared in an extortion drama involving a bizarre photo of their eight year-old daughter, Kaia.
TMZ reported that an odd photo of Kaia (taken when she was seven) was stolen from a former nanny by an acquaintance named Edis Kayalar. The photo depicts her “bound to a chair and gagged,” TMZ notes, as part of the nanny’s “cops and robbers game.” (The parents were unaware of this “game.”) Kayalar subsequently threatened to sell the photo, thus beginning a blackmailing plot.
A rep for the couple has released the following statement to Usmagazine.com:
A criminal complaint was filed today in federal court in Los Angeles by the U.S. Attorney’s office and the FBI stating that Rande Gerber and Cindy Crawford have been the victims of an on-going extortion scheme. This crime has been committed by Edis Kayalar, an acquaintance of a former nanny employed by the family. Mr. Kayalar threatened to sell an image taken of the couple’s then-seven-year-old daughter. There was no previous awareness by Mr. Gerber and Ms. Crawford of the existence of the photograph when they were contacted by Mr. Kayalar. The photo was taken by the former nanny as part of a purported game without the knowledge of the parents. The couple reported the extortion threat to the police and the FBI began a criminal investigation in the matter. Rande Gerber and Cindy Crawford intend to pursue any and all available legal action against anyone who aids the perpetrator in the distribution or sale of the photograph of their daughter.
[From Us Weekly]
God, this nanny and her friend sound like deplorable, disgusting people, don’t they? Who the hell does that? Ties a child up “as a game” with the idea to blackmail the parents? It’s completely gross, and I hope Kaia is okay (it sounds like she is). Here’s another thing – I hope they aren’t just being charged with extortion and all of the money-and-blackmail related crimes. Tying a child up, even if she thinks it’s just a game, could totally be a criminal offense as well. I’m thinking child endangerment, something like that. Cindy and Rande also have a 10 year old son – and there is no mention as to whether he was tied up as well (probably not). I’m glad the authorities got involved, and it sounds like Rande and Cindy will be pursuing their prosecution to fullest extent.
Header photo is Cindy, Rande, and their children Kaia and Presley at the LA Mission and Anne Douglas Center’s Thanksgiving Meal For The Homeless in Los Angeles, California last year, November 26, 2008. Additional photos of Rande and Cindy at the AFI Fest 2009 Screening Of ‘A Single Man’ on November 5, 2009. Credit for all: WENN.
Nice looking children.
Cindy is not looking very good in that photo
Isn’t her husband cheating on her or some such scandal?
Those girls are gorgeous… oops – I guess one is a boy!
I think Cindy is not wearing mascara in that photo is all.
Unrelated observation: I wish the daughter had the son’s platinum hair.
@Crash- The blonde is a boy. : )
is there a little blotch on my computer screen or does her son have the mole?
What gorgeous children…almost too perfect. The son should have his hair cut so that he looks more like a boy, though.
Andrea- he’s got the mole! Her kids are freakin’ gorgeous. People will stoop so low. Sickens me.
what a disgusting “game”…how horrifying for rande and cindy. i think cindy looks phenomenal, by the way. not many celebs look so gorgeous without makeup (or at least without full photo shoot makeup). the kids are absolute stunners (though the boy really needs a haircut)
@andrea – HA!! i see the mole, too, on the son!
Yikes, for a moment there I thought it was Janice Dickinson with a man and two beautiful children!
This is absolutely horrible. To think that you put your trust and ultimately your lives and your family’s lives in these people’s hands and to have them betray you like this is reprehensible.
Kudos to TMZ for passing on acquiring the photo. Methinks Harvey Levin learnt his lesson with the whole ‘Rihanna police photo debacle’.
O/T, Presley does not look happy to have his luscious blond locks encumbered by that hairnet!
Beautiful family and I am loving Rande’s jaw porn!
the girl looks like mini cindy, so cute .
Beautiful family. I hope they throw the book at the nanny and the friend because it sounds like they are horrible people. And any website that shows that picture should be boycotted forever!
It’s not going to be endangering a minor unless it can be shown that there was harm done to the child. ANd “she felt uncomfortable” isn’t going to be enough – there’s a higher standard than that. I’m not sure about how CA law falls on it (there’s a test made of multiple factors/elements; I could pull it up on LexisNexis or Westlaw, but I really don’t feel like it), but that’s the basic gist of it. If the defense can show that the child saw it as a game and that the reasonable person would not see that to have harmed the child in any way, that’ll be it.
I hope the nanny is fired. Even if it was a prank it was stupid to consider such a thing, especially when the girl was only 8 years old.
That boy does not need his hair cut. He is absolutely beautiful…both children are. He looks like a litte surfer.
I’m not sure if I’m seeing this right, but are the little boy’s eyebrows plucked, that’s why he looks like a girl.
this is so absolutely disgusting and wrong…what effing idiot does something like this and actually expects to win? and for a measly $100,00 ???? seriously???
and yes those kids are stunning.
Cute kids.
But seriously? That’s the extent of their nefarious blackmail plot? I’m a little underwhelmed.
That makes me sick to my stomach. I hope they do pursue their prosecution to fullest extent.
Sweet Jesus. Those kids are phenomenal looking.
There is no doubt looking at those kids that their mom is a supermodel. They are absolutely gorgeous.
Okay, am I the only one who thinks we’re not getting the whole story about this? First of all, why would a nanny take such a photo and keep it if it was only a game? If the nanny did play this kind of “game” and take photo’s to keep, then something is really twisted about the nanny yet the parents aren’t addressing that part of the issue and that sounds off to me. Or could it be that the nanny took the photo after seeing that someone else had tied up the little girl? To me, that sounds more like a reason for extortion, not that a friend tied the girl up and snapped the photo.
Something just doesn’t ring true about this.
I’m confused as to how they were expecting to blackmail them with this photo. Taking a photo of something YOU’VE done to a child-how can that make the parents give you cash? As for the tying up thing, we used to do that when I was a kid. Like, someone would be kidnapped by the baddie, and someone would come and save them. I think it’s just the fact that it was an adult doing the tying that makes it creepy and off.
I just can’t get over how much Cindy and her daughter look alike. Lucky girl!