Fashion Magazines Suspend Mario Testino and Bruce Weber After Sexual Misconduct Allegations

The two photographers were both accused of sexually exploiting models and assistants.

Mario Testino speaking at the Cannes Lions Festival 2017
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Image via Richard Bord/Getty Images

Mario Testino speaking at the Cannes Lions Festival 2017

On Saturday, the New York Times published a report detailing sexual misconduct and sexual coercion allegations against photographers Bruce Weber and Mario Testino. Following the accusations, several fashion magazines—including Vogue—decided to suspend the two fashion photographers, according to BBC. Both Weber and Testino have denied the claims made by former models and assistants.

Fifteen models accused Weber of sexual exploitation, while 13 models and assistants accused Testino of inappropriate sexual advances. Several models alleged that Weber frequently asked them to undress and engage in breathing exercises while touching themselves and Weber.  “I remember him putting his fingers in my mouth, and him grabbing my privates,” model Robyn Sinclair told the New York Times of Weber. “We never had sex or anything, but a lot of things happened. A lot of touching. A lot of molestation.” Weber has shot fashion campaigns for Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Abercrombie & Fitch among others. 

Allegations against Testino go back decades, despite his popularity among celebrities. The photographer even shot Vogue’s latest cover featuring Serena Williams and her daughter Alexis Ohanian. Model Ryan Locke called Testino a “sexual predator,” while his former assistant Roman Barrett recounted how “sexual harassment was a constant reality.”

Vogue editor-in-chief and Condé Nast artistic director Anna ​Wintour called the allegations “hard to hear and heartbreaking to confront.”

“I believe strongly in the value of remorse and forgiveness, but I take the allegations very seriously, and we at Condé Nast have decided to put our working relationship with both photographers on hold for the foreseeable future,” Wintour wrote on Vogue’s website.

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