Fashion photographer Bruce Weber settles sex assault lawsuit

Legendary fashion photographer Bruce Weber has settled a lawsuit filed by a group of male models accusing him of sexually assaulting them, Page Six has learned.

The 75-year-old shutterbug allegedly groped several men during a photo shoot while pretending to help them with what he claims are “breathing exercises” a process the model has dubbed “Brushing,” according to court documents.

Weber, who has worked with publications such as Vogue, has denied the allegations, saying he plans to “strongly” defend himself.

“I have spent my career capturing the human spirit through photographs and I am convinced that, in time, the truth will prevail,” he said.

The new settlement includes no guilty plea on Weber’s part, but ending a lawsuit jointly filed by models Josh Ardolf, Anthony Baldwin, Jacob Madden and Jnana Van Oijen.

The amount of the out-of-court settlement was not disclosed.

Last month, Weber completed a similar suit carried by model Jason Boyce, also for an undisclosed amount.

Weber is accused in a model suit of calls and texts that most recently settled privately ordering them, going so far as to brag that he could get them high-profile shoots.

But the models allegedly started warning each other about Weber’s “breathing exercises”.

Van Oijen claims they even used the term “Brucified as an abbreviation for his inappropriate behavior on set.

He said in court papers: “I watched Bruce bring one of the younger models from the scene into a private photoshoot, private setting… I don’t remember who it was but someone turned around and quoted me oh, he’ll get ‘Brucified.’”

Baldwin claimed in the paper that while filming for Abercrombie & Fitch in 2009 on Amelia Island in Florida, Weber became irritated when he refused to pose naked.

He then allegedly groped her while she was wearing her underwear after taking her through breathing exercises.

After the allegations against Weber were made public, Vogue’s doyenne Anna Wintour said she was suspending her working relationship with him.

However, the case against Weber was not without its problems.

In June 2020, attorney Lisa Bloom was ordered to pay Weber more than $28,000 in legal fees after her client Boyce refused to answer certain questions on a deposition.

At the urging of Bloom and his team, the deposition was closed. He then chose to reschedule, and now has to pay the fees.

Then in September 2020, a judge dismissed Kruegers’ lawsuit against Weber because, as one source claimed, his memory of the year the alleged incident occurred seemed hazy.

Bloom told us at the time: “Like many sexual assault accusers, [Krueger] have to contend with strict statutes of limitations, which unfairly limit the time sexual assault accusers can file lawsuits, no matter how strong their case. The dismissal of his case was based on that timeline alone, and had nothing to do with the veracity of Mr. Kruegers.

Commenting on Tuesday, Arick Fudali, partner at The Bloom Firm, told Page Six: “The parties have chosen to forget the matter and move on with their lives.”

While a source close to Weber told us: “Bruce has chosen to put the matter behind him and move on with his life.”