Exclusive: Top Male Models Accuse Photographer Rick Day of Sexual Assault
Barrett Pall and Kai Braden say the renowned photographer coerced them into an erotic shoot, then forced them into sexual acts.
BY
DAVID ARTAVIA
JULY 19 2018 4:00 AM EDT
Male models in the fashion industry are groomed in the art of seduction. Newcomers must learn to thrive inside a hypersexualized paradigm. Teenage models referred by their agents to powerful photographers, often in their 40s or 50s, worry that resisting norms could result in being blacklisted or viewed as difficult. Now two fashion models — Barrett Pall and Kai Braden — tell
The Advocate exclusively about a different kind of grooming, one they say was meant to confuse these young men as a renowned out photographer took advantage of them sexually.
In recent months, the discussion of consent between photographers and models has intensified. Last January,
The New York Times reported on the alleged abuse of power by photographers Mario Testino and Bruce Weber, both said to have had a decades-long history of sexual harassment of models. Fifteen male models shared their stories with the newspaper, describing inappropriate sexual behavior. Pressure for unnecessary nudity, they claim, was an open secret within fashion circles. A separate report by
The Boston Globe's Spotlight Team revealed harassment allegations against photographers Patrick Demarchelier, David Bellemere, Andre Passos, and Seth Sabal, and stylist Karl Templer.
In interviews with
The Advocate, Pall and Braden allege they were sexually assaulted by Rick Day when they were teenagers. Both were virgins at the time. Both allege Day invited them to his studio and told them a series of strange impositions were entirely normal, which would lead to unwanted sexual acts they felt trapped in.
Since the
Times report in January, companies have vowed to stop working with photographers accused of sexual harassment — including Condé Nast, which publishes
Vanity Fair, Vogue, and the LGBT publication
them. The company’s artistic director and editor of
Vogue, Anna Wintour, wrote: “In light of these allegations, we will not be commissioning any new work with Bruce Weber and Mario Testino for the foreseeable future.”
Alternatively, Dior has continued working with Templer in spite of accusations, having hired the stylist for a campaign this past spring. “I think in this difficult period it is wise to give Karl Templer the time to officially clarify the situation so that we can continue our collaboration in the very near future,” creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri wrote after the
Globe’s report.
While statements like these are good PR, they provide only a temporary balm for a much deeper issue in the largely unregulated industry. Because most models are independent contractors, they are unable to unionize, which means on top of paying agent fees (roughly 20 percent) they usually foot the bill for their travel expenses, housing, and federal taxes. Due to the absence of regulation and labor protections, on top of a multilevel construct of hiring workers (most photographers and stylists are also freelancers), pinpointing legal liability for sexual harassment and assault is challenging. The balance of power is consistently in favor of agents, photographers, and the companies that hire them.
Being a young male model poses unique challenges. In addition to fears of being ostracized for coming out about harassment and assault, there is also a perceived standard of masculinity that countless men hide behind.
Following the
Times report, out gay fashion model Barrett Pall uploaded a YouTube video called
“Why It’s Harder Being a Gay Model #MeToo.” Though he mentions no names in particular, Pall adds that when you’re starting in the industry, there is an “underlying agreement that you will kind of do what you have to do to book campaigns … and a lot of that involves sexual acts, a lot of that involves sexual abuse.”
Pall, who has appeared in numerous campaigns for Skechers, Puma, and Hyundai, among others, has been consistent in not naming names until now. Pall claims what Day did constitutes sexual assault, when during a November 2007 shoot, the photographer coerced him into taking erotic pictures and pressured him into a sex act.
Day has shot advertising campaigns for numerous clothing brands. His fashion spreads are published in nearly every magazine on the stands, including
Elle, GQ, DNA, and
Vogue Italia. He’s worked with artists such as Taylor Swift, Liza Minnelli, Nigel Parker, Michael Strahan, and Robert Sepulveda Jr. While his inarguable talent is evident in fashion spreads, Day is also a well-known erotic photographer. In fact, his 2010 book
Pioneers debuted at nunber 1 on the Amazon best-selling erotic book list.
Day first reached out to Pall eight months prior to the November 2007 shoot. The young model had caught the eye of Day, who messaged him via Model Mayhem, a website where up-and-coming models can be recruited for work — Pall was going by “Barrett Adam” at the time. During these first exchanges, Day wrote that he was interested in shooting Pall for a new coffee-table book, as shown by screenshots obtained by
The Advocate. (Day’s coffee-table book,
Players, was published in 2008.)
Pall said he was hesitant to reply to Day’s messages, given that the photographer’s portfolio consisted of numerous nude and seminude shots. Day facilitated him by confirming he was “not looking for a hook up ... but I find you very cute and would love to shoot a hot sexy shot of you,” as confirmed by a screen shot obtained by
The Advocate. Still, “something just didn’t feel right” about Day’s initial request, Pall says, so he decided to pass.
Coincidentally, a few months later Kevin Holloman arranged an initial go-see for October 2007, when Day took a few head and body shots of Pall. Holloman worked for B1 Model Management, Pall’s agency at the time, which no longer exists. Holloman said there was “no concern” over sending the 19-year-old alone to the New York City studio. Holloman tells
The Advocate he has never heard any complaints about Day and continues to send him models today (Holloman is now at BMG Models).
The go-see resulted in satisfactory photos. Soon after, Day followed up about scheduling a full shoot for November. At this shoot, Pall says, Day took erotic pictures and performed an unwanted sex act on the teenage model. It was Pall’s second time meeting the photographer, whose resume dominated the then-19-year-old’s own.
“I know there are countless guys who have shot with him,” Pall says now. “Some have had fine experiences; others have gone in warned about what he is like and knew how to navigate his grooming tactics, predatory ways, and inappropriate behaviors.”
Pall recalls thinking something was off when he arrived for the shoot at the studio, which turned out to be Day’s apartment. “[Day] tells you that he is going to be doing your hair and makeup,” admitting now that he’s older, he can recognize this as “the beginning stages of him grooming you, to see how far he can push you with his words and touch.” Tactics would intensify later, when Day pressured him to change in front of him, suddenly oiled Pall up with body oil, and repeatedly adjusted the model’s underwear while seeming to accidentally graze his genitals inappropriately.
When Pall seemed uncomfortable, he says Day bragged about the number of successful male fashion models he’d shot — like Lee Kholafai, who Pall “looked up to,” and Chad White, who at the time was best known for his 40-page spread in the June 2006 issue of
L’Uomo Vogue.
Pall said he was also impressed by the number of models in Day’s portfolio who were signed with Jason Kanner, now the founder and CEO of Soul Artist Management, one of the leading model management companies in the business, whose clients include White, Pietro Boselli, Cordy Bond, Marcus Schenkenberg, and Tyson Beckford.
Pall was longing to sign with a manager who had status like Kanner, who was at Major Model Management at the time. Kanner confirms with
The Advocate that he’s had a professional working relationship for years with Day, to whom he sends many of his male clients, but given that he’s currently in litigation for a case brought by model Jason Boyce (which also lists Bruce Weber as a defendant), Kanner chose not to comment on any allegations against Day.
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