'Sexually explicit' fashion photographer Terry Richardson banned by British 'Vogue'
Terry Richardson, the American fashion photographer with a sexually explicit aesthetic, has been banned from further assignments for British Vogue and other major magazines, Condé Nast Britain confirmed Tuesday.
In an email to USA TODAY, Harriet Robertson, deputy publicity director for Condé Nast Britain, confirmed the accuracy of a report Tuesday in London's Daily Telegraph of a leaked email from a top official of the international media company declaring that Condé Nast would no longer work with Richardson.
The photographer, 52, has long been the target of allegations that he has sexually exploited models he photographs — allegations he has repeatedly denied.
“Any shoots that have been commission(ed) or any shoots that have been completed but not yet published, should be killed and substituted with other material," the email from COO James Woolhouse said, according to the Telegraph.
Robertson told USA TODAY the "content of the email has been correctly quoted and that Condé Nast International has no further comment to make."
Condé Nast officials in New York declined to elaborate on whether they, too, have banned Richardson from American Vogue and other glossy titles in the Condé Nast media empire like Vanity Fair, GQ and Glamour.
“Condé Nast has nothing planned with Terry going forward," according to a statement by spokesman Joseph Libonati sent to USA TODAY. "Sexual harassment of any kind is unacceptable and should not be tolerated.”
In response to the ban, a person familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly said Richardson denies any non-consensual interactions with models.
"Terry is disappointed to hear about this email especially because he has previously addressed these old stories. 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."
No one is saying on the record why Richardson is suddenly persona non grata after years of success in the fashion and publishing industries. But the move comes in the wake of tumult in Hollywood caused by the Harvey Weinstein sex-abuse scandal in which more than 50 women — including several big-name stars — have accused Weinstein of sexual harassment, coercion, assault or rape in episodes dating back decades.
The Richardson ban also follows an article over the weekend in the Sunday Times of London that questioned the fashion world's continued hiring of Richardson to photograph their fashion layouts.
"Why is Terry Richardson, who shot Miley Cyrus’s Wrecking Ball video, still feted by fashionistas?," read the headline on the story, which referred to Richardson as the "Harvey Weinstein of fashion." The article said Richardson was recently photographed arm-in-arm with Edward Enninful, the editor of British Vogue, and attended shows at New York’s fashion week last month.
"Why has it taken so long for magazines to distance themselves from Terry Richardson?," The Guardian asked Tuesday.
Known models as "Uncle Terry," Richardson has been infamous since the 1990s for "an almost soft-porn aesthetic" featuring nudity, innuendo and simulated sex acts, according to The Guardian.
Cyrus' Wrecking Ball video, for instance, showed her on a giant wrecking ball naked except for a pair of Dr. Martens. He has made millions, photographed notables such as President Obama and Oprah Winfrey, snapped layouts for Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and GQ, and directed videos for Beyoncé.
But multiple allegations have been made against him since 2010 when some models began going public, describing episodes of graphic abuse, inappropriate touching and sexual harassment they said Richardson subjected them to on shoots.
In 2014, Richardson addressed what he called the "rumors" about him in a letter on Huffington Post in which he said he had always declined to "dignify" the allegations with a response, compared his edgy photographic aesthetic to that of Robert Mapplethorpe and Helmut Newton, and declared he was the victim of "vicious and distorted" accusations and "an emotionally-charged witch hunt."
"I have never used an offer of work or a threat of rebuke to coerce someone into something that they did not want to do," he said in the letter. "Sadly, in the ongoing quest for controversy-generated page views, sloppy journalism fueled by sensationalized, malicious and manipulative recountings of this work has given rise to angry Internet crusades. Well-intentioned or not, they are based on lies."
He concluded by saying that he had come to accept "some of my more provocative work courts controversy, and as an artist, I value the discourse that arises from this. I can only hope for this discourse to be informed by fact, so that whether you love my work or hate it, you give it, and me, the benefit of the truth."