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Elle C's avatar

You should look into Ron Burkle. He trafficked my friend way back in the y2K era. She was a model. For some reason he is not ever named in these lawsuits. He is deeply tied to Epstein/Clinton/Wexner.

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Emilie Hagen's avatar

I recorded a podcast with Isaac Weishaupt a few months ago that we didn’t release- maybe it’s time

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Stassy's avatar

I’ve been to Ron Burkle’s house a couple of times. He’s super creepy and gross and married to a gorgeous MUCH younger woman and they have 2 very young boys. He’s really well connected, knows everyone in the industry, finances a ton shows & is invested in studios, he’s unbelievably wealthy and just revolting. Definitely do a deep dive, there is so much to uncover!

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Sabrina LaBow's avatar

Yea there is. I'm on George Soros right now. So many whackos!

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Elle C's avatar

Yep. I have noticed he is a Exec Producer on almost every Taylor Sheridan show. This guy has managed to still be untouched - blows my mind.

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Chelsea's avatar

Maybe it’s time to deep dive Taylor. If only all of Hollywood operated like Dan Fogelman

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Stassy's avatar

He’s the main investor in 101 Studios who produce all the Taylor Sheridan shows. I know all the 101 execs, most are all ex Weinstein Co executives, the stories are crazy.

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Sabrina LaBow's avatar

He is besties with Bill Clinton. A bad dude.

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Tiggers Mom's avatar

Gross

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Chelsea's avatar

Good idea!

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Danielle Ruhnau's avatar

Yes!!!

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Brianna Logan's avatar

Emilie Diane Sawyer Hagen

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KonaVillageGhost's avatar

Where did you go ?! You were one of my favorite pages and stories on the gram! I miss it.

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Emilie Hagen's avatar

Key words here Brianna: “ONE OF” - I could have also been one of her favorites 🤣🤣🤣

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Sarah Spencer's avatar

My college roommate at FIT was a “model” for the Abercrombie store on 5th Ave in NYC (2006, aka standing out front in the freezing weather half naked or folding clothes near the door) and Mike Jeffries was there ALL the time being a fucking creeper/general asshole. He handpicked the guys out front from his private parties and it was no secret how they got there, his assistants would see literal teenagers shopping and recruit them for him too. They also strongly encouraged all of the employees to hook up with each other, it’s no shock to hear that the photo shoots were hyper sexual.

It reminds me of all of the Eastern European supermodels from the thinspo era “scouted” from malls and airports by random modeling agencies who would be on all of the runways for a year or two then suddenly disappear into the ether. Or they’d be labeled as difficult, shows stop booking them and then they end up married to insanely rich businessmen who abuse them to no end like Snejana Onopka (my chosen ED thinspo queen).

This story was fabulous and I cannot wait for more like it, Emilie!

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Emilie Hagen's avatar

That’s a good topic to dive into- I kind of want to fly to Europe and attend those runway shows- that would be quite the real life expose

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Sarah Spencer's avatar

The “Slavic Doll” era is something that needs more visibility, it was a DARK time in the fashion world. The models that looked like Sasha Pivovaroma, Vlada Roslyakova and Natasha Poly would appear en masse out of nowhere, do a bunch of shows and disappear from society.

Ruslana and another model from the Ukraine named Anastasia Drozdova got involved with a cult called Rose of the World, came out of it absolutely destroyed and both committed suicide within a year of each other in the exact same way. The Epstein connection just adds another fucked up layer to the whole thing and I’m sure the deep dive will be at Mariana Trench levels 😂

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Tiggers Mom's avatar

💔💔💔

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Martyna's avatar

I’d love to here more about this as someone from Poland.

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Tiggers Mom's avatar

We came very close to allowing my granddaughter to get into the whole modeling thing. She was elementary school age. Red headed. She’s now almost 18. I’m so glad we didn’t go any further with it.

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Ir Bor's avatar

Oh my goodness. This made me remember how I was approached several times while shopping at Nordstrom BP section as a very young teen (Ukrainian, so also Eastern European and I was very thin) and offered a modeling gig, but of course my Ukrainian mother would never. I remember feeling so flattered. Scary how many teen girls were sucked into the industry.

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Tiggers Mom's avatar

Oh my goodness.

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Kate Chee's avatar

My

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Anabel Capalbo's avatar

I worked at A & F right around that time after being offered a job while shopping. The store culture was so toxic! They wanted to it to feel like some sort of exclusive club (ostensibly so you overlooked how shady everyone behaved).

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Tiggers Mom's avatar

Oh my gosh

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Amy Overman's avatar

Excellent article! My heart truly breaks for everyone who has been subjected to abuse of any kind by these monsters. My heart goes out to everyone. 🫶🏽

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Emilie Hagen's avatar

Same- happy for people like Barbara for being an example to victims everywhere

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AshleyP's avatar

That last line got me. How many of us daydreamed about being a model or a singer in Hollywood and how amazing it would be. In reality it’s actual Hell. Thankful I live a normal boring life.

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Myra W's avatar

Great article Emilie! Wow just when I thought I heard it all!

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Emilie Hagen's avatar

Right? I def wasn’t expecting the defecation stuff

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Myra W's avatar

I had to reread it several times! I was trying to figure out the logistics of it! Lol! I will not be able to get the image out of my head!

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Emilie Hagen's avatar

I heard this same story about one of my favorite singers a year ago and it ruined him for me so I didn’t put him here 😭

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Myra W's avatar

Thank you for not naming anyone! 😱

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KBeingTrue's avatar

Really enjoy your writing Emilie. It's easy to read and very interesting. We had no idea of the many devils who rule the entertainment world, that these poor people had to sell their souls to. We will never see anything the same way again.

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Tiggers Mom's avatar

Great article Emilie!! This is so very sad and tragic. So many lives and souls traumatized by evil.

I hope they burn in h3||!

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Michelle Lobdell's avatar

Yeah, It seems silly now to think there was not a very, very dark side to all of those modeling gigs. Now do the music industry. I said "no" and walked away. Kudos to Barbara.

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St. Ignatius's avatar

“Naomi Campbell said she wouldn’t get out of bed for less than $10,000.”

That was Linda Evangelista who said that.

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Emilie Hagen's avatar

Ooo let me change that

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John Gallo's avatar

I can’t even believe what they made these models do! Thank god we have people like you giving these seemingly forgotten people a platform. I am so sad and am praying for justice for all who were taken advantage of. Maybe the more we speak about it, the more the world can’t ignore it. Can’t wait to listen to the podcast!

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Sabrina LaBow's avatar

I have guy friends who have told me they preferred the Victoria's Secret catalog to Playboy! It was ​THE catalog. I knew there were some bad actors going on behind the scenes at Victoria's Secret and Abercrombie, but the defecating stuff is next level. I think men feel such a shame when dealing with sexual molestation – even more so than women. I know that's a generalization, but I think it's true. Looks like Mike Jeffries is going to skate. He is apparently mentally unfit to stand trial. 40 men have come forward​. Can you imagine what the actual number is? The guy is a POS. Sounds like Barbara really went through it. Glad to hear she got out alive. What a world! It's a good reminder what you see on the outside is not only less glamorous than you think, it can be ​downright dangerous. ​There was a doc about it on Hulu--Victoria's Secret: Angels and Demons​. The more who speak out the better. Great post Emil​ie!

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Chelsea's avatar

Wow. Horrifying.

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Emilie Hagen's avatar

Very strange what was happening BTS while we were just casually buying the clothes

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LizRo1627's avatar

So sad and all I can think of is, "Where were the parents?" 😔

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THE MiD MOM's avatar

As a lowkey dyslexic adhd girlie who is very much a non reader, I can honestly say you’re the only writer who’s work I can read. The style is just easy to understand and the topics always interesting and riveting. Keep slayin kween 😜✌️

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Allison Antonia's avatar

it's such a mind f*ck to unravel all these stories from a world we admired and dreamed of back when we were children. Thanks for speaking out, Barbara. and great writing, Emilie.

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ge's avatar

Great job E! I love especially love that this story found you.

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Emilie Hagen's avatar

Right?! I really wanted to write an Abercrombie update but didn’t know how and then when they hit me up yesterday and connected me with Barbara- I was like TA DAAAAA

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Tracey Hunter's avatar

Interesting read as always. So glad you decided to go it alone. HiH is all Trump propaganda now.

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Donna littler's avatar

I was thinking the exact same thing!!!... Everything is so political, literally 90%+ is about politics and it's getting a little tedious now. 😴

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