'Sex pest' showbiz snapper banned
Richardson admits ‘sex interactions’
TOP fashion photographer Terry Richardson has been dropped by Vogue magazine amid sex allegations.
Richardson, who has snapped stars including Kate Moss and Miley Cyrus, has been dogged for years by claims he sexually exploited models.
The 52-year-old American, who also worked with Beyoncé and Lady Gaga, has always denied the allegations.
But yesterday he admitted “interacting” with models in a sexually explicit way during fashion shoots. He was speaking after being dropped by Vogue owner Condé Nast International, which also publishes GQ and Glamour magazines.
A leaked email sent to editors around the world told staff not to hire him in future, and said any unpublished shoots should be “killed or substituted with other material”.
It is believed to have been sent by the firm’s executive vice president James Woolhouse. Richardson is understood to have been in a contract dispute with Condé Nast.
The New York-based snapper directed Miley Cyrus’s controversial music video which saw her straddle a wrecking ball naked for her song of the same name in 2013. She later said she regretted the shoot.
In 2014, British model Emma Appleton tweeted a screenshot of a Facebook message she claimed was from Richardson, in which she was offered a Vogue photoshoot in exchange for sex. Richardson’s spokeswoman later insisted the message was a fake. But several other women came forward to make allegations against him.
Some claimed he would strip and ask them to perform sex acts while he photographed them.
Last night Richardson’s spokeswoman said: “He is an artist who has been known for his sexually explicit work, so many of his professional interactions with subjects were sexual and explicit in nature, but all of the subjects of his work participated consensually.”