Visits: 21
Six former models have alleged sexual abuse against the fashion agent Jean-Luc Brunel. Lucy Osborne investigates how the industry failed victims of abuse
In the 1980s, Marianne Shine worked as a model in Paris. One Saturday night, after a dinner with other models, she was raped by her agent, Jean-Luc Brunel. For decades, she never told anyone what happened to her.
In 2020, Brunel was arrested on suspicion of trafficking and raping underage girls. He was a close associate of the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and allegedly supplied him with over 1,000 young women and teenagers. Like Epstein, Brunel killed himself in prison, so never faced trial.
Since his death, six of Brunel’s accusers, including Marianne, have decided to talk about their experience. The Guardian’s Lucy Osborne tells Hannah Moore about their stories and how the fashion industry enabled abuse.
Marianne is featured in a Sky documentary, Scouting for Girls: Fashion’s Darkest Secret, which will be released on 24 June.
The Guardian is editorially independent. And we want to keep our journalism open and accessible to all. But we increasingly need our readers to fund our work.
