BRUCE Weber is an American fashion photographer and filmmaker.
He is best known for his ad campaigns for brands such as Abercrombie & Fitch and Calvin Klein and worked for magazines like Vogue, Elle and Vanity Fair.
Who is Bruce Weber?
Weber was born on March 29, 1946, in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
His first high-profile fashion photography appeared in GQ magazine in the late 1970s.
He shot the Bloomingdales mail catalogue in 1978.
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In 1988, having dabbled in making short films he made the documentary Let’s Get Lost about the jazz trumpeter Chet Baker.
Why is Bruce Weber famous?
Weber became known to the wider public in the early 1980s thanks to his campaigns for Calvin Klein using black and white photography.
Most notably, he photographed Olympic athlete Tom Hintnaus in white briefs.
He has often been at the centre of controversy, in one instance he did a spread for SoHo Weekly News which featured two men in just their underwear.
Weber also cemented his reputation doing shoots for the clothing brand Abercrombie & Fitch.
What are the allegations against Bruce Weber?
In December 2017, model Jason Boyce sued Weber for sexual assault, including inappropriate touching and kissing during a 2014 casting session.
A second model, Mark Ricketson, came forward in December 2017 alleging similar claims.
Then in January 2018 the New York Times detailed sexual assault allegations by fifteen male models against Weber, specifically citing “unnecessary nudity and coercive sexual behavior” during professional photo shoots.
Weber has denied the allegations, telling the New York Times that the allegations were "untrue" and that he had "never touched anyone inappropriately".
Then in December 2018 five more male models filed a lawsuit against Weber, alleging the photographer had exploited or sexually assaulted them.
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The legal complaint calls Weber a “serial sexual predator,” and lawyers representing the models describe the photographer’s actions as sex trafficking.
Attorney Lisa Bloom, whose firm represented the five models, told the New York Times: “It’s considered a commercial sex act because the person who applied is hoping to get a job."
In the Netflix documentary White Hot: The Rise and Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch, former model for the brand Ryan Daharsh says: “It was very well known with Bruce that he liked young men.”
Weber again denied the allegations.
He told the paper: “I have used common breathing exercises and professionally photographed thousands of nude models over my career, but never touched anyone inappropriately.”
Jayne Weintraub, one of Weber’s attorneys, added: “We are confident that Mr Weber will prevail against these false allegations; not just with words, but with evidence in a court of law.”
Where is Bruce Weber now?
Following the allegations in the original Times report, publishers and brands distanced themselves from Weber.
Condé Nast, the global media company that publishes Vogue, Vanity Fair, GQ, and other magazines, said it would no longer hire Weber “for the foreseeable future”.
Brands, including Abercrombie & Fitch, also dropped him.
Weber is said to have settled the cases brought by Boyce and the five models outside of the courtroom in September 2021.
Details about the settlement weren’t disclosed.
At the end of 2021, Weber published his book The Golden Retriever Photographic Society.
He also directed the documentary The Treasure of His Youth: The Photographs Of Paolo Di Paolo, which premiered at the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival in March 2022.
He also shot a cover and spread for ICON magazine’s April 2022 issue.
