The silence is deafening. A depraved photographer accused of abusing and exploiting young models enjoys access to the entertainment industry's hottest female stars, from Rihanna to Lady Gaga to Beyonce to Miley Cyrus. He counts "progressive" feminist celebs among his most intimate friends. He's even photographed President Obama. But when confronted with his sordid history and career degradation of women, these elite friends of Terry have nothing to say.
Meet Terry Richardson (but be sure to bring your mental Purell). The Guardian touted him as "the former junkie punk who put the filth into fashion." The son of a fashion photographer, his first "success" was an image he shot for British designer Katharine Hamnett. "There was a shot of a girl, with her legs open, she had white panties," he recounted to an admiring New York Times reporter. The see-through underwear left nothing to the imagination. It was a "cool image," Richardson bragged.
The title of that fawning Times feature: "The Naughty Knave of Fashion's Court." Naughty? Try skeezy. Shady. Icky. Pervy. Richardson has mainstreamed overlit soft porn and pedophilia chic as "art." His "Terryworld" photo exhibit featured women performing oral sex on him while crammed into suitcases and trashcans. He's the warped mastermind behind Miley Cyrus's naked, phallic-drenched "Wrecking Ball" video, for which they won an MTV Europe Music Award. He persuaded Lindsay Lohan to pose with a gun to her head. He slathered Lady Gaga in red meat for Vogue. He finagled "Glee" stars Dianna Agron and Lea Michele into simulating group-sex play with the late Cory Montieth, for which Agron later apologized to fans and their appalled parents.
