Under Investigation: The inside story of the Florida Attorney General’s investigation of Wilhelmina Scouting Network, the largest model and talent scam in America.

ISBN-0968713335 Paperback 512 pages $29.95

Modeling Agency News

Claws out on the catwalk

"It has all the hallmarks of a TV soap: a fresh-faced ingenue from the mid-west is discovered by a top modelling agency and before you know it she is gracing the pages of magazines and catalogues, jetting to plum assignments overseas and running with a fast crowd. There is a campaign with L'Oreal and, in her best year, billings of $300,000. Then, somewhere amid all the glitz and glamour, the young model begins wondering why the paychecks never seem as big as promised. When she finally screws up the nerve to ask her agency about all the fees they are deducting from her paychecks, she gets screamed at by one of her handlers at her agency. The scene ends with the model, 10 years on, remembering going into the bathroom and crying."¹

"The lawsuit describes the business like this: "While the domestic modelling agency business now involves hundreds of millions of dollars a year in bookings, it is still largely run as an unregulated private club, dominated by a handful of agencies that are owned and run by people who have known each other a very long time."²

"Every time there was a change [in commission structures] there was a change across the board at all agencies," says Brian Rishwain, an attorney and former model based in Los Angeles. He originated the case on the basis of research he did representing a model looking for ways out of her contract. "This has been a conspiracy to set prices," he says."³

"While the outcome of the case and the Justice Department investigation is far from clear, the spotlight on this secret world has already unleashed much rancour. Shelton - a model turned filmmaker, who was represented by IMG, Elite, Wilhelmina and DNA Model Management during a 16-year career - says efforts to form a models' union similar to that of Hollywood actors have failed in the past because of fears of reprisal. The lawsuits could change that. Now, for better or worse, the cats are out of the bag and the claws are unsheathed. "It's a great business if you want to meet chicks and steal from them," Shelton fumes. "It's every shady character's dream."⁴

1. Richard Siklos, "Claws out on the catwalk," Telegraph, Aug. 10, 2003.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/money/2003/08/10/ccsikl10.xml

(Ford Models, Wilhelmina Model, Next Model Management, Elite Model, IMG Models)

US launches probe into seamy side of fashion

"Edward Curtin, a lawyer for Elite, told the Wall Street Journal that the charges are "ludicrous" because modeling "is one of the most ferociously competitive businesses in New York". Models argue that behind the glamorous facade lurks a seedy world where young women are bullied into working long hours and often end up with huge debts. Until now the industry has largely managed to dismiss the claims as the complaints of those with careers that have failed. The lawsuit from Ms Richardson has caught attention because she was once a magazine cover girl with earnings that topped £500,000 a year. Her suit could eventually involve thousands of aggrieved models. The Justice Department has paid close attention to industries where monopolies may exist as part of the crusade against corporate crime that began after the collapse of Enron."¹

1. Simon English, "US launches probe into seamy side of fashion," Telegraph, Aug. 5, 2003.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/2003/08/05/cnfash05.xml

(Ford Models, Wilhelmina Model, Next Model Management, Elite Model, IMG Models)