Kendall Jenner Sued For $1.8 Million For Breaching Modeling Contract
Kendall Jenner is accused of breaching the terms of a modeling contract by the Italian fashion brand Liu Jo, an allegation her model management company denies.
In a legal complaint filed at a New York City court on Monday (August 2), Liu Jo accuses the 25-year-old model of failing to appear at the second of two planned photo shoots, for which she was to be paid a total of $1.5 million, plus a 20 percent service fee.
In its lawsuit, obtained by E! News, Liu Jo claims the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star took part in the first shoot back in July 2019 and that by February 2020, they had already paid her $1.35 million. The second shoot was set to take place in London in March 2020, but the coronavirus pandemic prohibited her from traveling.
The lawsuit states that the parties agreed to postpone the shoot to the fall, but did not confirm a new date. Kendall allegedly eventually “ceased responding to Liu Jo” until the company “informed her that it considered her in breach of the contract” and that the contract was terminated, according to the documents. Liu Jo also claims it filed the complaint after “having no success in obtaining a refund” the model allegedly owed.
A spokesperson for The Society Management, which represents Kendall said, “This suit is without merit. The Society Management, on behalf of Ms. Kendall Jenner, has continually offered Liu Jo alternative dates and locations to fulfill an agreement that was forced to be delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic.”
The statement continued, “Jenner has willingly offered to complete services honoring her commitments.”
Also in its lawsuit, Liu Jo said that after Kendall suggested to postpone the photoshoot to October, the company learned the model “would be traveling to Italy in September 2020 to perform a photo shoot for a different designer.” The complaint includes a link to a Metro U.K. article that contains photos of the model, appearing to show her arriving at a Versace shoot that month. This year, Kendall appeared in ads for the luxury brand.
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After Kendall allegedly “continued to fail to respond to urgent requests and communications relating to the logistics” of the postponed shoot, Liu Jo told her “she was in breach of her obligations under the agreement” and two days later, Kendall told the fashion corporation she was not in breach of the deal and that it was “impossible” for her to travel to Italy that fall, according to the complaint.
The company says in its filing that at least its first and second payments to the model must be refunded because she did not attend the second photo shoot and that it could also not be rescheduled to a mutually convenient date. The company is seeking at least $1.8 million in damages.
“Due to Ms. Jenner’s refusal to negotiate in good faith, Liu Jo was forced to find replacement models and restructure its entire Spring/Summer 2021 photoshoot —at great expense to Liu Jo due to Ms. Jenner’s refusal to uphold her end of the bargain,” the lawsuit states.
