Gerald Marie was one of the biggest names in the fashion industry. He was the boss of a well-known modeling agency. But he is also a controversial personality, actor, Internet sensation, and media face from France. Born in 1950, he is now in his 70s.
Gerald was the head of the Elite Model Management Modeling Agency in Paris for many years.
But things crumbled down on him after eleven women accused the former agency boss in 2021. He is now known as an alleged rapist.
His ex-wife, Canadian fashion supermodel Linda Evangelista, said she knew nothing about the reported attempted rapes while they were married. She also said the women coming forward are probably telling the truth and praised their courage.
Among the 11 women are American model Carre Otis.
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Quick Bio
Born in 1950 in France, Gerald Marie was a hardworking boy in his youth. Before entering the fashion world, he worked as a dancer on television to earn money.
He appeared in the Tout le monde el parle television series in 1999. He later got a chance to play the role of Lorenzo Ferretti in the Frankie film in 2005. There he shared the screen with Diane Kruger, Sylvia Hoeks, and Christian Wiggert.
When he stepped into the modeling industry, he eventually became the head of the Elite Model Management Modeling Agency in Paris.
During that time, he represented some of the most famous models in history, including Helena Christensen, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, and Claudia Schiffer.
His contract was canceled because the company became bankrupt and was split into two companies in 2011.
He is now serving as the chairman and major shareholder of the modeling agency Oui Management.
Speaking about his personal life, he is mostly known for his marriage to Canadian fashion supermodel Linda Evangelista from 1987 to 1993. They lived happily in Paris, but Marie had many extra-marital affairs Linda was not aware of. They parted ways in 1993 but didn’t share the reason for their separation.
Gerald has a daughter, Cookie, from his relationship with model Lisa Rutledge.
How Is He Linked To Jeffrey Epstein?
Before we get to the sexual allegations made against him, let’s talk about how he is connected to Jeffrey Epstein and those allegations.
Jean-Luc-Brunel, a former French model agent with links to Jeffrey Epstein, was found dead in his Paris prison cells in February 2022.
He was in detention, awaiting trial on charges of rape of a minor and sexual harassment. He was part of the inner circle of Epstein, the disgraced financier.
While Marie was not part of that inner circle, many in the fashion world made parallels between Epstein and Gerald.
In one such statement, a former model said, “Modeling boss Gerald Marie walks free despite dozens of reports of alleged sexual assault by women who have courageously come forward with the abuses they faced as young models. We need to correct this system of abuse, but we cannot do it alone. We look forward to working with lawmakers in the US and France to expand pathways to justice”.
The Sexual Assault Accusations
Is Gerald a rapist? The pedophile modeling agency boss is accused of raping models as young as 14 because he thought virgins were unphotogenic and prescribed them cocaine to keep them thin.
A total of 11 people have come out and spoken about the time he was allegedly raping them while being married to Linda Evangelista.
Things happened in the 80s and 90s, a period in which he became one of the most powerful men in the fashion industry. Marie denied all of the allegations made against him.
Two of the accusers, Laurie Marsden and Lisa Brinkworth, shared their stories with CBS News and New York Times.
Laurie said, “I started in New York City, and then I went to Milan, which is sort of the trajectory that a lot of models go through. And then my Milanese agency said, ‘Why don’t you try Paris?'”
She was a top model in the 1980s and arrived in Paris at the age of 19. Marie was her agent, and at a house party, he attacked her.
The former young model said, “He jumped on top of me and he had me pinned down. And he tried to rape me. I finally got out from under him, and then I fled. There was no question that he was there for sex. And the fact that he wasn’t stopping, and the fact that he was pulling my clothes off, there came a moment where I said to myself, ‘You are going to be raped.'”
At the time she didn’t go to the police because she wouldn’t be taken seriously.
American model Carre Sutton said she was repeatedly raped after being recruited by Gerald in 1985. At the time, she was only 16 and he was dating supermodel Evangelista.
According to her words, several of the assaults took place in the Paris apartment where he lived with Linda. She was personally flown out to Paris by Marie after signing with the agency. There, she stayed with him in his multimillion-dollar apartment.
There, she was subject to repeated sexual abuse and was plied with a constant stream of cocaine to stay thin. She says he allegedly trafficked her and other women to wealthy men around Europe. There, he was known as the Harvey Weinstein of the fashion industry.
Lisa Brinkworth was another alleged victim. In 1998, she was an undercover journalist working on a story about the abuse of young models. And she posed as a model herself.
She says she met him at a nightclub with other modeling executives. Speaking about the experience, she said, “Gerald Marie was next to me, and he was becoming very, very insistent that we would sleep together. And then, all of a sudden, without any warning, he straddled me and pinned me at the back of my chair, and sort of simulated sex. And this went on for some time. I was absolutely terrified I was going to be raped. And I was shouting, ‘No, no.’ Then eventually he got off me.”
Marie has never been charged with a crime. When asked about some of the accusations, he said in a 1999 interview,“We are easily attacked”.
His attorneys said in a statement that he firmly objects to the defamatory and false allegations made against him and is withholding his statements for the justice system.
Net Worth
Despite everything, Gerald Marie continues to live a lavish life. He has a great income and net worth of between $5 and $6 million.
Remember, the modeling boss worked for Elite Model Management for 25 years. He did earn quite a lot of money during that period.
37-year-old who enjoys ferret racing, binge-watching boxed sets and praying. He is exciting and entertaining, but can also be very boring and a bit grumpy.
