Kim Kardashian's photographer has been accused of predatory behaviour

One of the few things social media watchdogs Diet Prada are exceptionally well at is identifying cases of sexual assault or inappropriate behaviour in the fashion industry. In the past day, the Instagram page released screenshots of LA-based celebrity photographer Marcus Hyde that reveal his involvement in the exploitation of young female models of the industry by soliciting nudes photos or sexual favours in exchange for photoshoots.

Last Sunday night, the photographer, who has regularly had celebrity clients like Kim Kardashian and Ariana Grande got in contact with LA-based model and interior design student @sunnaya where he explained to her that to shoot nude would be free, if she sent him nude photos before to prove she was “worth it,” otherwise it would cost her 2k. After refusing to send nude pictures, and refusing to shoot in general, Marcus then told the model to “suck a big fat dick.” Shocked by this exchange that went down in her DM’s, model @sunnaya immediately made screenshots which she initially published on her page, that were soon removed by Instagram for having “gone against community guidelines.” However, Diet Prada was smart enough to make screenshots which they then posted on their page. 

After making the first post, it released a flood of horrifying stories from young models all over America that had experiences with the photographer that were close enough to be considered assault. From sexually suggestive Instagram messages to taking advantage of young nude girls at shootings. The bigger the story became, the more evident it became that the photographer was guilty. His first reaction was to remove his profile image, then he decided to make his profile private and eventually started deleting posts.

With a scandal so big, there was no way the celebrities he had worked with could ignore it. Ariana Grande released a statement on her Instagram stories where she addressed her affiliations with the photographer:

Soon after, celebrity Kim Kardashian was also lead to do the same: 

Since this story has broken, it has also inspired other girls in the industry to speak out about New York-based Victoria's Secret photographer Timur Emek, who has been accused by several models of soliciting photoshoots in exchange for sexual favours and nude images. The Turkish photographer has also been accused of blatantly taking advantage of girls on shoots as well as making sexual attempts to underaged girls in the industry. Following the accusations of Diet Prada, the photographer quickly made his page private. 

Amidst all of this, one of the common threads has been the modelling agencies’ dismissals of each girls story when they attempt to explain their experience to their agents. Of course, this does not mean the agencies are to be held responsible for the photographers’ behaviours, however, each agency needs to aim to do a better job at protecting their girls against predators in the industry, especially if they are brazen enough to be signing underaged girls.

Marcus & Timur are only two of the names that have been exposed to be predatory photographers in the fashion industry since the year has started as for now, they join the long blacklist of predators of the industry created by  @shitmodelmgmt last year.