annie-leibovitz

Happy Birthday

cityfile · 10/02/09 06:38AM

It's been a tough year for Annie Leibovitz, but maybe she can start fresh from here on out? The financially challenged photographer turns 60 today. Others celebrating: designer Donna Karan is turning 61. Kelly Ripa turns 39. Lorraine Bracco is 55. Sting is 58. Actress Camilla Belle is turning 23. '80s pop star Tiffany is 37. And two of Hugh Hefner's latest girlfriends, Karissa and Kristina Shannon, are turning 20. A roundup of a few people celebrating birthdays this weekend—including Al Sharpton and Liev Schreiber—is below.

Annie Leibovitz Lines Up a New Gig

cityfile · 09/24/09 08:05AM

Photographer Annie Leibovitz may be making an effort to dig her way out of the epic financial mess that nearly left her bankrupt earlier this month. Along five other "personalities," she's been tapped by Louis Vuitton to design a monogrammed canvas backpack for the company. It's actually part of a charity project that will benefit the Red Cross, so it's entirely possible she won't earn a dime from her contribution. Then again, as Grazia notes, here's hoping her work earns her a commission of some sort! [Grazia]

Another Day, Another Leibovitz Lawsuit

cityfile · 09/10/09 10:15AM

If you're keeping track of the number of lawsuits that have been filed against photographer Annie Leibovitz, it's time to sharpen your undoubtedly dull pencil: She's been sued again. According to a suit filed in Brooklyn Supreme Court, a set design company called Mary Howard Studio claims "Leibovitz stiffed it out of more than $160,000 for work on some of her best known projects over the past two years." [NYP, previously]

Our Plan To Save Annie Leibovitz's Finances

John Cook · 09/08/09 05:21PM

Annie Leibovitz has been sued—again—for passing off another photographer's work as her own. She allegedly stitched a portrait she took onto a background he took and passed it off as her own shot. Which gave us an idea! Italian photographer Paolo Pizzetti sued Leibovitz last week for copyright infringement.

Leibovitz Sued Again

cityfile · 09/08/09 10:01AM

Last week, Annie Leibovitz scored a small victory when a judge granted the financially troubled photographer an extra month to come up with the $24 million she owes creditors, or face the loss of her real estate holdings and photography collection. Whatever momentary relief that ruling provided her is probably gone now: An Italian photographer is now suing her for $300,000 for allegedly using his photos of Venice and Rome without his permission as part of a calendar for Lavazza coffee. [BBC, previously]

Annie Buys Some Time

cityfile · 09/04/09 08:56AM

There hasn't been much good news for photographer Annie Leibovitz the past few months. But today there is! Leibovitz had been given a deadline of September 8 to respond to a lawsuit that alleged she'd failed to repay a $24 million loan that had been extended to her last year. Yesterday, however, a judge granted her another month to either respond to the suit or settle the case with the lender, Art Capital. Will that give her enough time to figure a way out? Or is she just putting off the inevitable, which could include filing for bankruptcy or surrendering her real estate holdings and collection of photographs? See you back here in 30 days! [NYP]

Know Your Scandal-Plagued Vanity Fair Photographers!

cityfile · 08/27/09 10:44AM

How many star photographers who regularly shoot for Vanity Fair now find themselves in the middle of financial scandal? Two! There's Annie Leibovitz, of course, who was sued last month over a $24 million loan. Then there's François-Marie Banier, the photographer responsible for Vanity Fair's July 2009 cover featuring Johnny Depp, who goes on trial next month in France for allegedly exploiting Liliane Bettencourt, the 86-year-old heiress to the L'Oréal cosmetics fortune, who has handed Banier some $1.3 billion in cash, stock, and art in recent years. Naturally, these things usually come in threes. Watch your step, Patrick Demarchelier!

What Comes Next for Annie Leibovitz?

John Cook · 08/19/09 11:04AM

As information continues to drip out about Annie Leibovitz's disastrous financial situation, her own personal D-Day is fast approaching. What happens on September 8, when her $24 million pawnshop loan comes due?

Annie Leibovitz and The Other Ken Starr

cityfile · 08/18/09 01:40PM

New York's epic article about Annie Leibovitz in this week's issue is well worth a read, particularly since it sheds a little light on how it is one of the world's highest-paid photographers now finds herself on the brink of financial ruin. (If the only person you'll allow to repair your air-conditioner has to travel to NYC from Vermont to do the work, that's probably not a good sign.) Leibovitz's financial fate will likely be sealed in September when the $24 million loan she secured from Art Capital Group last year is due. Interestingly, though, Leibovitz appears to be hinting that the terms of the loan— which required her to put up the rights to her photos and real estate holdings as collateral—only became apparent to her after the Times reported on Art Capital Group back in February. Friends of the photographer suggest that Leibovitz had no idea she was giving up so much when she took out the loan; they also seem to be shifting some of the blame to Ken Starr, the financial adviser who took the photographer on as a client in 2007 and who was also responsible for introducing Leibovitz to Art Capital Group. Pinning the blame on Starr, who boasts an insanely long list of celebrity clients, may be a hard argument to make.

Annie Leibovitz Can't Win

cityfile · 08/11/09 01:14PM

Financially-challenged photographer Annie Leibovitz was sued last week by Art Capital Group, the high-end pawn shop that loaned her $24 million last year in exchange for the rights to her photography collection and her collection of real estate holdings in the West Village and upstate New York. It will be some time before we find out whether Leibovitz will get to hang on to her assets, but it seems she's already suffered one minor defeat in court. In a court ruling over whether Getty Images went behind Art Capital's back to negotiate a deal to represent Leibovitz on a freelance basis, New York State's highest court misspelled the name of the "world-renowned photographer" 37 times. Don't you just hate exceptions to the normally reliable "i before e, except after c" rule? [NYS Supreme Court, PDF]