Kendall Jenner is facing a lawsuit for allegedly breaching a modeling contract with Italian fashion brand Liu Jo.
In a legal complaint filed at a New York City court on Monday, the company accused the “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” star of failing to appear at the second of two planned photoshoots, for which she was to be paid a total of $1.5 million along with a 20% service fee.
Liu Jo claims Jenner, 25, shot the first images in July 2019, with the second shoot set to take place in London in March 2020.
However, the coronavirus pandemic prohibited her from traveling, despite the company having already paid her $1.35 million of the total fee. Initially, the parties agreed to postpone the second shoot until the fall.
The company then “proposed multiple alternative dates and locations,” but Jenner allegedly “repeatedly failed to provide Liu Jo with definitive responses to Liu Jo’s proposals, proposed no reasonable alternatives and ultimately turned down all of Liu Jo’s good-faith offers of compromise,” according to the documents obtained by Page Six Style.
A spokesperson for The Society Management, which represents Jenner, told Page Six Style, “This suit is without merit. The Society Management, on behalf of Ms. Kendall Jenner, has continually offered Liu Jo alternative dates and locations to fulfill an agreement that was forced to be delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Jenner has willingly offered to complete services honoring her commitments.”
Liu Jo also claims that Jenner told them it would be “impossible” to travel to Italy for a September 2020 shoot, only to then do so for another brand’s campaign. (The model also
hosted a star-studded birthday party in LA in November.)
The company alleges that Jenner eventually “ceased responding” and made contact “only after Liu Jo informed her that it considered her in breach of the contract and that, therefore, the contract was terminated.”
They claim they’ve had “no success in obtaining a refund” after paying the model for two shoots’ worth of work.
“Liu Jo was forced to find replacement models and restructure its entire Spring/Summer 2021 photoshoot — at great expense to Liu Jo — due to Ms. Jenner’s refusal to uphold her end of the bargain,” the lawsuit states.
