Terry Richardson ‘Disappointed’ by Conde Nast Blacklisting, Claims Sex With Models ‘Consensual’

The photographer Terry Richardson is “disappointed” that magazine group Condé Nast International has chosen to blacklist him, a representative for the photographer has told The Daily Beast.

The representative added, “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.”

Richardson was responding after the Daily Telegraph reported that James Woolhouse, Condé Nast International’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, sent a message to “country presidents” on Monday that read: “I am writing to you on an important matter. Condé Nast would like to no longer work with the photographer Terry Richardson. 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. Please could you confirm that this policy will be actioned in your market effective immediately. Thank you for your support in this matter.”

The full statement sent to The Daily Beast by a representative for Richardson read, “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.”

The spotlight has returned to Richardson’s behavior toward models in recent days following the furor around Harvey Weinstein’s alleged abuse of women.

On Sunday, Britain’s Sunday Times published a piece, “Why is Terry Richardson, who shot Miley Cyrus’s Wrecking Ball video, still feted by fashionistas?,” which led to the fresh avalanche of attention.

Caryn Franklin, former editor of the fashion magazine i-D, told the paper:

 “As Richardson was working for many high-end campaigns, the power of the man, and the apparent popularity, seemed to create a protective shield.

“The age-old culture of predatory behaviour is based upon the premise that it is a young woman’s duty to protect herself from it and not an older man’s responsibility to behave with respect.”

The paper printed a photograph of Richardson walking arm in arm with Edward Enninful, the newly installed editor in chief of British Vogue, a Condé Nast title.

Richardson’s representative also pointed The Daily Beast to an article Richardson wrote for the Huffington Post in 2014, in which he wrote: “I collaborated with consenting adult women who were fully aware of the nature of the work, and as is typical with any project, everyone signed releases. 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. I give everyone that I work with enough respect to view them as having ownership of their free will and making their decisions accordingly, and as such, it has been difficult to see myself as a target of revisionist history.”