Terry Richardson, Dov Charney And The Illusion Of Consent

Late Wednesday night, CEO and founder of American Apparel Dov Charney was fired by his own company after a string of sexual harassment claims, which have led to an investigation into alleged misconduct.

It has emerged today that the delayed music video for Lady Gaga & R Kelly’s duet, ‘Do What You Want’ directed by controversial photographer Terry Richardson will never see the light of day after a source described it as an ‘ad for rape’.

It’s not altogether odd coincidence that these two men, who even look rather similar with their affected outfits, questionable facial hair and intentionally awkward glasses, are in the news on the same day for their alleged sexual exploitation of women.

American Apparel is no stranger to controversy, thanks to its at times graphic print ads featuring young models in incredibly provocative poses and barely-there outfits.

Charney’s ousting was precluded by numerous lawsuits taken out against the 45-year-old entrepreneur by models and former employees who accused him of harassment ranging from consistently propositioning American Apparel employees to holding one woman ‘prisoner in his apartment for several hours’ where she claimed she was ‘forced to perform additional sex acts’ on Charney.

Charney has maintained his innocence throughout, claiming during a deposition for one of the many lawsuits that he believed all acts had occurred consensually.

This notion of consent making everything okay also crops up in the story of Terry Richardson.

Easily one of the most high profile photographers in the world right now, 48-year-old Richardson has gained a reputation in the world of fashion and editorial as a manipulator of young women with the Village Voice referring to him as the ‘notorious sleaze fashion photographer’.

His signature style of stark snaps have made him popular with high profile brands and magazines like GQ and H&M and he’s famed for frequently getting naked to ‘make his models feel comfortable’.

Despite the fact that we can’t think of a single situation that was made less awkward by the introduction of a naked man with a camera, he’s built an impressive career that’s seen him shoot everyone from Miley Cyrus to President Obama.

A few years ago, Jamie Peck wrote about her experience modelling for Richardson when she was 19 where she was asked to remove her tampon so that he could play with it before it was ‘strongly suggested’ that she give him a hand job in front of his assistant.

Reading stories told by the many models who have had the courage to speak about their experiences with Richardson, the same, illuminating phrases tend to pop up: ‘pressure to comply’, ‘important photographer’,’ do whatever it takes’, ‘extremely uncomfortable’, ‘pushed aggressively’, ‘sex puppet’.

When asked about these allegations, Richardson describes his attitude as very relaxed.

‘I’m like “cool, sounds great…if not, no problem, never do anything you don’t want to do”.’

But when the subject is a 19-year-old model, possibly struggling to make ends meet and refusing to get naked means she doesn’t get the job, doesn’t get paid and risks making a ‘bad impression’ on one of the most powerful photographers in the world – is that real choice?

Both Charney and Richardson are clinging to the notion that these acts were consensual, rather than exploitative but it's just the illusion of consent.

What is the right choice between performing oral sex on the multi-millionaire CEO of the company you work for or losing your job?

The cliché of the young, naive model being coerced into posing topless is a cliché for a reason. It’s a pervasive phenomenon that occurs in this situation where one person has all the power and influence over the other, either due to age, gender, social standing or professional clout.

When Charney was asked to answer for these numerous allegations levelled against him he responded by claiming they’re ‘a testament to my success’.

Is he a total sociopath to equate success with sexual harassment claims or does that say more about our society? We’ve all read the kiss and tell stories featuring footballers and prostitutes but have they conditioned us to expect that when a man is rich and powerful, women will always come sniffing around eager to make a quick buck using the only thing she can – her body?

While Charney collects his P45, Richardson is currently the subject of an online petition started by a British student entitled: ‘Big brands: Stop using alleged sex offender and pornographic Terry Richardson as your photographer’, which has 34,000 signatories and counting.

Brand such as H&M, Target and Vogue are distancing themselves from the photographer who, for the record, feels totally fine about the whole thing.

‘I don’t have any regrets about the work at all,’ he recently told New York Magazine.

‘I’m okay with myself about everything, and that to me is the most important thing.’

Charney will go lick his wounds in his 37-acre LA mansion while Richardson will no doubt continue to work and maybe nothing will change.

The exploitation of young women by older men is nothing new, but a culture that celebrates those men as sucess stories and celebrities is one we should all be worried about.