Model Carré Sutton sues ex boss for raping her when she was 17
Ex-supermodel Carré Sutton sues former boss of the Elite agency dubbed the ‘Harvey Weinstein of the fashion industry’ for ‘repeatedly raping her at his Paris apartment when she was 17’ and for ‘trafficking her to wealthy men across Europe for sex’
- Gérald Marie, now 70, was the former head of Elite’s European division
- He allegedly supplied Sutton with vials of cocaine ‘to lose weight and become a more successful model’
- Sutton, now 52, filed a lawsuit under NY’s Child Victims Act, which expires Saturday and allows survivors of childhood sexual abuse to sue attackers
- In a press conference Sutton said her ‘broken family’ made her vulnerable to the abuse
- Marie was accused of sexual assault by multiple models and was dubbed ‘the Harvey Weinstein of the fashion industry’
Former 1990s supermodel Carré Sutton has filed a lawsuit alleging her former boss and the head of Elite Model Management’s European division ‘repeatedly raped her’ at his apartment when she was 17 years old.
Sutton, now 52, filed the lawsuit Thursday in Manhattan federal court before New York’s Child Victims Act expires Saturday.
Gérald Marie, now 70, ‘trafficked’ Sutton ‘to other wealthy men around Europe,’ according to the lawsuit.
Marie – who has been called ‘the Harvey Weinstein of the fashion industry’ for preying on young models in the ’80s and ’90s – also supplied Sutton with vials of cocaine ‘on the premise that it would allow her to lose weight to become a more successful model,’ the suit alleges.
Then and now: Carré Sutton, now 52, has been modeling since she was 16 and has appeared in Sports Illustrated, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Cosmopolitan. She filed a lawsuit on Thursday in Manhattan federal court alleging her ex-boss and former Elite Model Management head Gérald Marie ‘repeatedly raped’ her in Paris when she was 17
Marie, now 70, allegedly ‘trafficked’ Sutton – and other women – ‘to other wealthy men around Europe. He was known as the ‘Harvey Weinstein of the fashion industry’ across young models in the 80s and 90s
After six months of abuse, the now-52-year-old Sutton recalled refusing to have sex with Marie. In turn he kicked her out of his Paris apartment and Sutton was transferred to a modeling agency in Milan, Italy, The Guardian reported.
Sutton had previously made rape allegations against Marie in France, which he denied and Elite Model Management was never named as a defendant in a suit.
New York state’s Child Victims Act permits survivors of childhood sexual abuse to sue their attackers regardless of how long ago they were abused.
More than 9,000 lawsuits have been filed since the law was enacted two years ago. However, the window on any more suits closes Saturday.
One year before arriving in Paris Sutton was a 16-year-old living on her own in California’s Bay Area when she was ‘discovered by a modeling agent with connections to Elite in New York City,’ she told The Guardian
She flew to New York City shortly after when she learned Elite Model Management’s founder John Casablancas ‘was interested in her’ and was sent to Marie’s office in Paris weeks later
Sutton said she filed the lawsuit ‘on behalf of all the other survivors’ and ‘in hopes that other survivors who are within the statute… feel that there is safety in coming forward’
The former actress and model claimed she fell victim to Marie shortly after signing with the French modeling agency.
One year before arriving in Paris, Sutton was a 16-year-old living on her own in California’s Bay Area when she was ‘discovered by a modeling agent with connections to Elite in New York City,’ she told The Guardian.
She flew to New York City shortly after she learned Elite Model Management’s founder John Casablancas ‘was interested in her’.
When Sutton didn’t book any paid photo shoots, Casablancas said ‘her look was not making the cut’ and he sent her to Marie’s office in Paris.
According to The Guardian, upon Sutton’s arrival in the French capital Marie told her she would succeed with the modeling agency but she had to be obedient in order to do so.
According to The Guardian, upon Sutton’s arrival in the French capital Marie told her she would succeed with the modeling agency but she had to be obedient in order to do so. Sutton alleged he slapped her on the buttocks and said: ‘On my dime I don’t want your opinion, Carré. I want your obedience’
After six months of abuse Sutton recalled refusing to have sex with Marie. In turn he kicked her out of his Paris apartment and Sutton was transferred to a modeling agency in Milan, Italy
Sutton alleged he slapped her on the buttocks and said: ‘On my dime I don’t want your opinion, Carré. I want your obedience.’
Sutton said in a press conference on Friday: ‘I was from a broken family and I had turned toward modeling because I was a runaway teen and had dropped out of school.
‘Looking back it’s so clear to me that my background was part of what made me vulnerable to abuse and to trafficking.’
The lawsuit said that the sexual assaults started one night after a modeling shoot. Marie had allegedly already started providing 17-year-old Sutton with cocaine at his Paris apartment that he shared with his then-girlfriend Linda Evangelista.
The suit read: ‘Every time Evangelista left the apartment, defendant Marie expected plaintiff to let him rape her which he did repeatedly over the span of months.’
Sutton also said at the press conference: ‘The shock and dissociation of the attack stayed with me for many, many years. I had to become tough and truly dissociate to survive what happened to me in Paris, from the initial ongoing assaults and then to be looked at as an object in the industry.’
The suit also claimed that other Elite employees were well aware of Marie’s behavior.
It is not suggested that Evangelista (pictured with Marie) was aware of any such incidents and praised the ‘courage and strength’ of the women who have accused her ex-husband of sexual misconduct and rape
Sutton was not the only woman to have accused Marie of sexual assault while he managed the modeling agency’s European operations. When French authorities were investigating Sutton’s earlier claims, 11 other women were invited to meet with French investigators in Paris, The Guardian reported
It is unknown if Evangelista knew what was going on when she lived in Paris with Marie but she said: ‘Based on my own experiences I believe these women are telling the truth.’
Sutton said she filed the lawsuit ‘on behalf of all the other survivors’ and ‘in hopes that other survivors who are within the statute… feel that there is safety in coming forward’.
Former Elite Model Management founder John Casablancas (pictured) – who died in 2013 aged 70 of cancer – had also been accused of abusive and exploitative sexual conduct on more than one occasion
The ex-model is evidently aware that she was not the only woman to have accused Marie of sexual assault while he managed the modeling agency’s European operations. When French authorities were investigating Sutton’s earlier claims, 11 other women were invited to meet with French investigators in Paris, The Guardian reported.
Former model Laurie Marsden now works in Australia as a psychotherapist, is one of the new alleged victims, claiming she was sexually assaulted by Marie in the French capital when she was 19
Laurie Marsden, a former model who now works in Australia as a psychotherapist, is one of the alleged victims who claimed she was sexually assaulted by Marie when she was 19.
Lesa Amoore, another former top model, alleged that she was harassed and sexually assaulted multiple times during her three years at Elite, including one time where she claimed Marie grabbed her wrists and pushed her up against a wall outside a Paris venue, and that she had to knee him in the groin to escape.
Fellow models Emily Mott, Catherine Donaldson, Karen Howarth, Jennifer Peres and Serene Cicora have also made claims against the industry giant.
Casablancas – who died in 2013 aged 70 of cancer – had also been accused of abusive and exploitative sexual conduct on more than one occasion.
He announced he was dating a 16-year-old when he was 42 and married to model Jeanette Chritiansen.
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