Carla Bruni made a very controversial – and ill-informed – comment this weekend as she claimed that sexual harassment doesn’t happen in the fashion industry. The supermodel and former First Lady of France argued that the climate in Hollywood (which has been exposed thanks to the Harvey Weinstein scandal) is not the same in fashion.
“Of course, you have dreadful people in fashion like everywhere else, but fashion is not so dangerous for young girls,” the model told InStyle. “There’s a lot of work, there’s a lot of travelling, and you need to have a lot of discipline. I would say that it’s one of the places in show business that is safe. People don’t want to abuse girls — they want to photograph them. It’s a healthy environment.”
Bruni’s comments come just days after model Cameron Russell started sharing horrific stories of sexual harassment and abuse experienced by women in the fashion industry. The model started the hashtag #MyJobShouldNotIncludeAbuse and asked women to privately message her their stories so she could share them with the world.
“That doesn’t happen in fashion,” Bruni continued. “I never had a photographer or designer do that, never ever. Most agents are protecting girls because they have to work. And there are a lot of women in fashion — women rarely go into that kind of abuse. That keeps it safe for young models. Maybe I’m wrong.”
It seems very strange that Bruni – who has been in the industry for decades – would never have heard any stories of abuse when the issue is clearly very prevalent.
