Bruce Weber denied all of male model Jason Boyce’s allegations of wrongdoing Thursday in an answer to a complaint filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York.
On Dec. 1, the plaintiff Boyce filed a complaint against Weber in the New York State Supreme Court for allegedly forcing him to rub his own genitals, along with other allegations.
Weber’s response, filed Thursday afternoon, stated: “Bruce Weber denies plaintiff’s allegations in the strongest of terms. They are false. With the support and encouragement of irresponsible counsel, plaintiff and his counsel conducted a defamatory press conference that spread plaintiff’s false and unproven allegations against Mr. Weber around the world, without any regard for any form of due process, let alone fundamental facts or fairness. As a result, this case is already a travesty of justice. Defendants will prevail, but how does Mr. Weber get his reputation back?”
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Weber denied all Boyce’s allegations about what transpired during the fashion shoot in the model’s complaint, ranging from Weber allegedly asking Boyce to take off his pants to the photographer rubbing oil on his forehead and making Boyce extremely uncomfortable, to Weber asking Boyce to put his hands on himself and rub his own genitals.
Weber is looking to dismiss the complaint in its entirety — with prejudice — and asks that the defendants be awarded costs and disbursements associated with this action, including reasonable attorneys’ fees to the maximum extent allowed by law. Weber and Little Bear, Inc.’s attorney is Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP.
Weber couldn’t be reached for comment, nor could Mark Risk, Boyce’s attorney.
As reported, in the Dec. 1 complaint, Boyce alleged to have suffered from being sexually harassed and discriminated against on the basis of his gender. “Boyce was the victim of ‘casting couch’ practices by the defendants, upon information and belief, are prevalent in the modeling industry, and suffered humiliation, emotional anguish and lost economic opportunities, including the end of his modeling career in New York,” the complaint stated. In addition to Weber, the 19-page document named Jason Kanner, Soul Artist Management and Little Bear Inc. Kanner is the founder and head of Soul Artist Management, which represented Boyce at the time of the incident in December 2014. Little Bear Inc. is the production company run by Weber’s wife, Nan Bush.
Meantime, WWD has learned that L’Oréal reportedly canceled its Ralph Lauren men’s fragrance ad campaign that was photographed by Weber. The ads were scheduled to break in January. Spokeswomen for L’Oréal and Ralph Lauren had no comment Friday.
Also, an event for Weber during Art Basel Miami Beach, that was to be sponsored by Vanity Fair and car brand Genesis, was canceled earlier this month.