A smart professional move on Anna Wintour‘s part!
Over the weekend, the Vogue editor-in-chief announced Condé Nast has put its working relationships with Mario Testino and Bruce Weber on hold following the troubling sexual misconduct allegations made against them.
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The fashion icon made the formal announcement on the mag’s website after The New York Times reported that 13 male assistants and models claimed Testino made unwanted sexual advances towards them. Weber has been hit with similar accusations from 15 current and former male models. Both photographers have denied the sexual misconduct allegations.
In her statement, Wintour explained:
“Both are personal friends of mine who have made extraordinary contributions to Vogue and many other titles at Cond├â┬⌐ Nast over the years, and both have issued objections or denials to what has emerged. I believe strongly in the value of remorse and forgiveness, but I take the allegations very seriously, and we at Cond├â┬⌐ Nast have decided to put our working relationship with both photographers on hold for the foreseeable future.”
Wintour also announced that Cond├â┬⌐ Nast is adopting new guidelines “which has emerged after bracingly honest discussions├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥with model advocates and agents, stylists, photographers, hair and makeup artists, set designers, and many of our own editors.” Specifically, the company will no longer have alcohol on sets, all models must be 18 years or older, and any shoot involving nudity or sexually explicit content must be approved in advance by the subject.
On why she’s launching these new guidelines, Anna noted:
“The goal of these conversations has been to understand how we can create safe and positive environments for everyone we work with.”
We can get behind this!!
Still, we’re sure Testino and Weber are distraught over losing Wintour’s support, as both men have claimed innocence to the Times. Mario’s legal team challenged the credibility of the complainants and said they spoke with a number of former employees who were “shocked by the allegations.”
Bruce flat out denied the claims, as he relayed via statement:
“I’m completely shocked and saddened by the outrageous claims being made against me, which I absolutely deny.”
Man, oh man. We have a feeling it’ll be VERY hard for Testino and Weber to come back from this…
Do YOU think they’ll go the way of Terry Richardson or no??
[Image via Franck Castel/NewsPictures/WENN.]
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