Gerald Marie was married to Linda Evangelista – the famous supermodel – but when his wife was out of town, Sutton says he was sexually assaulted by the French agent “several times a week” for several weeks in 1986. “He basically pushed himself against me and raped me,” Sutton said in a tearful interview for a new documentary. “I remember being so devastated and terrified.” Now 53, Sutton – better known as Carre Otis – tells Sky News that he “would be happy to come face to face” in court with Marie, who categorically denies all allegations of sexual harassment. of by many women. Image: Carre Sutton, pictured in 1991, became known as Carre Otis. Photo: John Barrett / Shutterstock There is no indication that Evangelista – who divorced Marie in 1993 – was aware of the alleged abuse. In 2020, she issued a statement praising the “courage and strength” of her ex-partner’s accusers, saying: “Listening to them now, and based on my own experiences, I believe they are telling the truth.” Sutton is one of at least 11 women who have reportedly testified to a Paris prosecutor alleging that they were sexually assaulted by Marie, the former head of the Elite modeling agency in Europe. Image: Gerald Marie and Linda Evangelista in 1991 However, the French statute of limitations means that allegations of sexual abuse must be reported within 20 years or 30 years in the case of minors. Sutton believes there have been other alleged victims of Marie over the past two decades and wants them to appear. “I do not think the perpetrators are just turning a switch,” he told Sky News. “The reason I came forward is that I have daughters, I do not want them to have to normalize what I have normalized for so long. “This is a completely uncontrollable industry that works mainly with minors and young adults. “It is outrageous that it is the only industry that is not regulated.” Image: Carre Sutton says she would be “happy to come face to face” with Gerald Marie in court. Photo: Sky UK The modeling industry is “completely complicit” in the abuse Sutton and three other women share details of the sexual abuse they allegedly faced while working as models in a new documentary called Scouting For Girls: Fashion’s Darkest Secret. Sutton – who was once married to actor Mickey Rourke – says people in the industry were “completely complicit” in model abuse, especially in Paris. Image: Mickey Rouke and Carre Otis pictured in 2001: Pic: Bei / Shutterstock She says she was sent to a casting at the homes of photographers who were “known perpetrators”, where she was told to undress to show them her body. “That was perfectly normal,” he says. “They often went late, late, late at night. “It was really the vulnerable, and those who did not make the money, who were the ones who hunted.” “Groomed and sold by our dealers” Jill Dodd says she was also raped by Marie after a night out in Paris in 1980 when she was a 20-year-old model. He continued to associate with Adnan Kasogi, the late Saudi arms dealer who was once said to be the richest man in the world. Image: Jill Dodd claims to have been raped by Gerald Marie. Photo: Sky UK She says she later discovered that Kasogi had paid Marie’s Paris Planning agency up to $ 50,000 to recommend her. Dodd tells Sky News: “We were young and we were being exploited, cared for and sold by our agents. “I know it for myself, I hit myself for years …” How could I be so stupid? How could I let that happen? “ “In fact, I had no chance against these strong men who were 20 years older than me, who were conspiring against me.” Image: Adnan Khashoggi reportedly paid a modeling agency to introduce himself to Ms. Dodd. Photo: AP “An perpetrator in the palm of our hands” Another senior figure in the modeling world who faces allegations of sexual abuse in the documentary is French agent Jean-Luc Brunel, a collaborator with Jeffrey Epstein. Brunel – like Epstein before him – was found dead in prison in February this year after committing suicide. He was detained in December 2020 as part of an investigation into allegations of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment. Picture: Jeffrey Epstein (L) with Jean-Luc Brunel (R) Marianne Shine says she was raped by Brunel while working as a model in Paris in the 1980s and tells Sky News that the news of his death was “outrageous”. “Here we actually had an perpetrator in the palm of our hands,” he says. “There were so many times I was ready to go to Paris to testify and then they postponed it and postponed it.” Shine, who now works as a therapist, claims she was sexually assaulted by the late French modeling agent Claude Haddad, who fired her because she “would not play the game” – and there were others who treated her inappropriately. Image: Marianne Shine claims to have been raped by Jean-Luc Brunel .. Photo: Sky UK She says: “I remember once I did a test shoot with a photographer and he said ‘we have to sleep together otherwise you will not take your pictures’”. “It simply came to our notice then. I went to my agent and complained about it and they said “oh, baby, come”. “Master groomers and master manipulators” Shine believes that there is a common theme about the men who are responsible for the kind of abuse she and other models have suffered. He says: “I have this theory that some of the men are very young, or that there is something small in them, that they feel that their only strength is to be abusive or intimidating or threatening in some way. “When it comes to the modeling industry, we are manipulated by hanging these dreams and these possible modeling jobs in front of us and we believe them. “If we agree with that, we are fine – if we speak against him, we are done.” Image: The documentary presents the Look Of The Year modeling contest. Photo: Sky UK He adds: “They were beauticians and craftsmen. They were our authoritative figures. “They hold all the laces. They held everything.” The documentary includes interviews with a fourth woman – Shawna Lee – who was a 15-year-old Canadian schoolgirl when she competed in the Look of the Year modeling competition in 1992. Image: Shawna Lee spoke about sexual abuse she allegedly suffered. Photo: Sky UK In the weeks before the contest – which was judged by Donald Trump last year – Lee was sent to Paris by the Elite where she says she was raped by Gerald Marie. She says that Marie found out that she had confided it to a fellow model and rebuked her, telling her that her career would be in the spotlight and telling her: “What else are you going to do? Go back home and put on a burger?” “Most models have no voice” Sutton has filed a lawsuit in New York against Marie and says she is willing to take the case to court. “I’m in this for justice,” he told Sky News. “I am here to protect workers’ rights, I am here for equality, I am here to heal what happened to me and so many other survivors who were completely innocent. “I’m in it to see the industry change and I’m in it to face the statute of limitations reform. “It was not a walk in the park. It was one of the most difficult two years of my life.” Image: Carre Sutton has filed a lawsuit against Gerald Marie. Photo: AP Sutton – who has two teenage daughters – is still concerned about the safety of the industry and says she would not allow her children to become models. “I have 13 and 15 year olds (daughters) and this is not going to happen,” he told Sky News. Dodd believes that famous models are “much less vulnerable” to possible abuse, saying: “The big stars were usually not abused as much as the unknown girls who had no money and no one knew who they were. “It simply came to our notice then. “(Famous models) have a voice. I had no voice and most models have no voice.” In a statement to the documentary, a Gerald Marie’s lawyer said he was “strongly opposed” to the “false allegations made against him”. “He remains calm and refuses to take part in the erroneous and dishonest media controversy that has erupted more than 30 years later,” the lawyer added. Prior to his death, Brunel denied any wrongdoing during his tenure in the industry, saying he had never abused a woman. Haddad, who died in 2009, had previously stated that he had “never forced” any woman he was “with”. Scouting For Girls: Fashion’s Darkest Secret will be released on Sky Documentaries and NOW streaming service on Friday, June 24th.
