Model Snatching Agencies Battle in Court

Anna Maria Jagodzinska

Ford Models and Next Management, two top NYC modeling agencies, are taking their catfight to the Manhattan Supreme Court. Next has accused Ford of poaching three of their top models, Anna Aleksandra Cywinska and Anna Maria Jagodzinska from Poland and Estonian Karmen Pedaru, while all were still under Next contract. In the lawsuit, Next is pulling the 'un-American behavior card': Accusing Ford of waging a "campaign to raid Next's businesses," and, according to the Post, calling Ford's owners "Russian nationals who totally ignore the American legal system." In Russia, legal system ignores you!

Of course, Next knows a thing or two about poaching models. Seattle-born Kendra Spears was a 20-year old college student when Ford discovered her through a MySpace "Supermodel of the World" competition in 2008. After signing a three-year contract with firm, she served Ford a slap to remember by jumping ship to Next in 2009 and continuing a wildly successful career. Still stinging, Ford has sued Next for model-snatching three times in recent years, and one 2009 suit stated, "Incredibly, this is the sixth time in less than a year that Next has wrongfully acquired... models and employees under exclusive contract with Ford."

"It's completely different" is Next lawyer Elizabeth Eilender's response. "It's a completely different situation with different models. Completely different." Hm, if she'd just said "completely" one more time we would have been convinced!

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By Zoe Schlanger in News on May 21, 2010 2:13 PM

Comments [rss]

cucarachita

What rubbish. All these agencies are fighting for is the "right" to exploit and steal from these models themselves. A model is allowed to change agencies if she wants to, unless she's under contract, in which case a lawyer can be involved, and they'd sue the model, not the agency. If a model leaves one agency to go to another, it only means she was offered a bigger cut of the money she'll be making (but probably be robbed blind in "expenses" or something else).