Every model’s nightmare…
In a report published by the New York Daily News on Thursday, model Caron Bernstein is accusing infamous photographer Terry Richardson of rape during a 2003 photoshoot in New York.
After being introduced through a mutual friend, Bernstein — who appeared in the pages of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar — was reportedly told she was doing a shoot for a fragrance called “Sex” for an editorial layout in V Magazine.
Initially thinking “it was going to be a test shoot,” the now-47-year-old was handed a pair of white panties, and was disallowed from powdering herself.
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As production staff began leaving the room, Richardson allegedly shot photos, positioned her in a chair, took more photos, exposed his penis, forced himself into her mouth, ejaculated on her chest, and continued to shoot more photos.
Bernstein recalls:
“It was like literally being shot with a stun gun. My brain just went on pause… I wasn’t doing anything. I wasn’t performing as a model… I was like a deer in the headlights… I wasn’t drugged, I wasn’t handcuffed. Thank God that never happened. But in a weird way, that would have made it easier to forgive myself for not fighting him off.”
Although she agreed to pose topless, she would “never walk in somewhere and agree to a sex act with a stranger. I’ve never done that in my entire life. Never in a million years.”
After the alleged incident, Caron grabbed her belongings, ran down the staircase crying, and went to a friend’s nearby boutique.
Richardson’s lawyer Brad D. Rose says his client did nothing wrong as the encounter was “consensual.”
“Ms. Bernstein knowingly and willingly posed for these photographs and at all times prior to and during the shoot, any contact she had with Mr. Richardson was consensual.”
He adds:
“Caron Bernstein agreed to shoot sexually explicit photographs with Mr. Richardson, which had no connection to an editorial or advertising campaign for a fragrance product.”
V Magazine says they have no recollection of assigning a 2003 editorial feature to Richardson.
As we reported in October, Condé Nast International cut ties with the artist because of the many sexual assault claims against him.
[Image via Tina Paul/Dan Jackman/WENN.]
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