Vogue publisher bans Testino and Weber after sex claims

The favourite photographer of Princess Diana is the latest to be accused in a sex-abuse scandal engulfing the entertainment world.

Mario Testino arriving at Sydney Airport in 2016. Picture: Jonathan Ng

The favourite photographer of Diana, Princess of Wales is the latest person to be accused in a sex abuse scandal that is engulfing the modelling world.

Mario Testino, who created many of the most iconic photographs of Diana, is accused of sexually exploiting male models, as is his contemporary Bruce Weber.

Testino’s photoshoot with Diana, Princess of Wales made history. The pictures showed a smiling, relaxed Diana in all her captivating beauty, echoing the public’s adoration. Months later, she was dead.

But behind those pictures of Diana and others, including Kate Moss, lies an apparently sordid side to Testino which, according to The New York Times, involved sexual exploitation of male models in an industry being exposed for its treatment of young people.

The allegations against Testino, 63, born in Peru, and Weber, 71, come in an industry already reeling from the charge that it knew of sexual harassment by photographers but did nothing to stop it.

Both photographers have been banned by Conde Nast, publisher of some of the world’s leading fashion magazines including Vogue, according to The New York Times.

The claims against Testino date from before his pictures of Diana, taken in 1997 for Vanity Fair, and which featured in an exhibition at Kensington Palace in 2005. He also photographed the engagement of Prince William and Kate Middleton. In 2014 he was appointed an honorary OBE.

Mario Testino’s 1997 picture of Diana for Vanity Fair that echoed the public adoration of the princess

In The New York Times, 13 models and male assistants gave accounts dating back to the mid-1990s in which they claim they were subjected to sexual advances that included groping and masturbation. “He was a sexual predator,” said model Ryan Locke, who worked with the photographer for Gucci.

Locke said that when he told other models he was going to meet Testino, “everyone started making these jokes — they said he was notorious, and ‘tighten your belt’.”

The casting took place at Testino’s hotel where the photographer opened the door to his room in a loose robe, Locke said. Then they got into a dispute about whether the model needed to be fully nude for test pictures.

In Weber’s case, 15 models described behaviour which they said involved unnecessary nudity and sexual exploitation.

Weber has photographed stars such as David Bowie and Leonardo DiCaprio and worked on campaigns for Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren.

The models described private sessions in which Weber asked them to undress and take part in breathing and “energy” exercises. The models were asked to touch both themselves and Weber.

“I remember him putting his fingers in my mouth, and him grabbing my privates,” said the model Robyn Sinclair. “We never had sex or anything, but a lot of things happened. A lot of touching. A lot of molestation.”

The photographers said they were dismayed by the accusations. “I’m completely shocked and saddened by the outrageous claims being made against me, which I absolutely deny,” Weber, an American, said.

Lawyers for Testino challenged the characters and credibility of the people who made the allegations.

The ban on the pair by Conde Nast follows The Sunday Times’s revelations in October that photographer Terry Richardson had a history of allegedly abusing young female models. The exposure led to a similar ban by the publisher.

The Sunday Times