REVENGE OF THE MUMMY!
Model’s mother in extort threat: suit
A top model threatened to unleash a secret weapon on her Manhattan agency if it refused to release her from her contract: mom.
Dior catwalker Adwoa Aboah, 25, warned in August that her mother “would cause the Lions [Model Management] problems in the fashion industry unless the Lions agreed to release Aboah from her contractual obligations,” according to a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit.
The British-born stunner’s mother is Camilla Lowther, head of the high-profile agency CLM, which represents leading fashion photographers.
Lions says in its suit that Aboah signed with them in 2015 when she had “virtually no modeling fees and had been rejected by other modeling agencies in New York.”
Two years later, “Aboah was one of the top models in the United States,” the suit claims.
The model got booked for high-profile gigs such as Dior’s London Fashion Week show, the cover of Vogue alongside Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner in March and campaigns for Calvin Klein and H&M.
As recently as July, Aboah told her agents, “I am very happy with you. My loyalty is with you, and I would not be where I am without you,” the suit claims.
Then, just a month later, her mom approached rival DNA Model Management founder David Bonnouvrier, according to court papers. Lowther is “a personal friend” of Bonnouvrier, the suit claims.
Lowther “made a deal for Aboah to be represented by DNA,” the suit says, even though her daughter’s contract with the Lions doesn’t expire until January 2018.
Aboah e-mailed her Lions reps in August to tell them she wanted to leave.
When Lions refused to let her go, Bonnouvrier reminded them that, “Lowther was very powerful in the fashion industry and that unless Aboah was released from her contractual obligations, Lowther would attempt to harm the Lions business,” according to court papers.
Lions responded with its own threat: If Aboah leaves, we’ll sue.
The agency made good on its promise this week after DNA announced that it was representing Aboah.
Lowther, Bonnouvrier and DNA are all defendants. The Brooklyn-based Aboah is not being sued. The suit is for unspecified damages. Reps for the parties did not return calls for comment.