10. Renee Alway
Renee Alway, a 2007 America’s Top Model finalist, saw a dramatic fall from grace when
she was arrested in Palm Springs, California, in June of 2013 for multiple criminal charges,
including burglary, vehicle theft, fraud and drug possession. After being spotted acting
suspiciously in a neighborhood by local residents, she was allegedly found hiding in the garage of
a condominium unit with a firearm. Another armed man was rumored to have been with her.
A SWAT team was brought in for the standoff, which lasted 6 hours. After her arrest, she appeared
in court with a shaved head. Her sister told the media that it was her way of “starting over”. She
went on to plead guilty to four felony burglary counts, possession of a firearm and vehicle theft.
Initially sentenced to 12 years in prison for her crimes, she was dismissed, under a plea agreement,
of more than a dozen additional counts. She spent 5 years behind bars, and was released in 2018.
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9. Jeremy Meeks
Before Jeremy Meeks made headlines for a famous police mug shot, he was an active
member of the Crips gang, and was involved in grand theft and possession of a firearm,
for which he was convicted on federal charges, in 2014. Born in 1984,
his life in crime started young as Meeks was first arrested at 18 for assaulting a 16 year old boy
and sentenced to 2 years in a California prison. Following his most recent arrest, in 2014,
he gained viral recognition for his good looks as the “hot felon” and was signed to a modeling
agency following his release in 2016. In 2017, he made his runway debut. Since then
he has secured multiple modeling gigs and has managed to stay on the right side of the law.
8. Salma al-Shimi
Salma al-Shimi, an Egyptian model and Instagram influencer was detained by the authorities,
in 2020, along with her photographer, for allegedly disrespecting Egyptian culture. She’d
posed for a photo shoot just outside the city of Cairo, in front of the 4,700-year-old Step Pyramid
of Djoser. Local media reported she was wearing an “inappropriate” costume
after appearing in a video in an ancient Egyptian dress. Shimi denied being aware of
the rules she’d supposedly broken leading to her arrest, and many citizens criticized the courts.
Many questioned the legitimacy of banning normal photos at an archeological site.
Shimi and her photographer were later released on bail and ordered to pay 500 Egyptian pounds
each, which is about 32 US Dollars. Egypt is known to take allegations of
inappropriate social media use very seriously. In 2021, five young women were sentenced to two years
in prison for posting videos, perceived as indecent, on the popular app TikTok.
7. Tereza Hluskova
At just 22 years old, Czech model Tereza Hluskova faced a sentence of 8 years behind bars.
She was arrested, in January of 2018, after she was found attempting to smuggle close to
20 pounds of heroin, worth nearly $1.5 million, into Ireland. She was caught before her departure,
at Islamabad International Airport, in Pakistan, and reportedly broke down in tears
during her court hearing. Hluskova claimed that someone else had placed the contraband
inside her luggage, without her knowledge, and that she was tricked into entering Pakistan
through a fake modeling opportunity. However, following a lengthy trial in which 9 witnesses
were called forward, she was ultimately convicted of drug trafficking. According to her legal team,
she went on to launch appeals against her sentence. Subsequent media reports claimed
that these attempts have failed, and she is said to still be imprisoned in Pakistan.
6. Sky Ferreira & Zachary Cole Smith
In 2013, a model couple was pulled over after committing “several vehicle and
traffic infractions” in the state of New York. At the time, Zachary Cole Smith, who is also
the frontman of an indie rock band, was driving an unregistered truck without insurance or a license.
The truck also had a stolen license plate. Between him and girlfriend Sky Ferreira, they allegedly
were found in possession of heroin and Ecstasy. Ferreira was also said to have resisted arrest
by physically fighting the police officers attempting to detain her. Only a few hours
earlier, the 21-year-old had walked alongside Cara Delevigne at a Marc Jacobs’ show for the
New York Fashion Week. The couple was released from jail on bail, with a $2,500 fine for Smith
and a $1,500 fine for Ferreira. Ferreira later denied allegations by critics that she was
a negative influence on her fans, saying she’d “never really been clean and pure”.
5. Katie Piper
Katie Piper, an aspiring British model, was just 24 years old when her promising career
was derailed by an attack, ordered by her ex-boyfriend, Daniel Lynch.
Two years prior to the incident, she’d finished as a runner-up in the Miss Winchester beauty pageant,
and was due to be cast in a reality show called Candy Crib. Nobody could’ve foreseen what would
happen to her. In 2008, she was leaving her house when Stefan Sylvestre, a man paid by her ex,
threw acid into her face. It severely burned her and, in the aftermath, she would require
over 250 reconstructive surgeries to mend her injuries. Sylvestre had hidden the sulphuric acid
inside a coffee cup and, as he crossed the road towards Piper, threw the contents of the
cup over her face. At first, Piper reportedly didn’t realize what had happened but then felt
an agonizing burning sensation. “I could feel my face burning, so hot I thought I was going
to burst into flames”, she reported. She’d need treatment for the rest of her life, and
underwent psychological therapy to help with the trauma from the attack. Years after the incident,
she’d come to live a fulfilling life with her husband and two children, and also founded a
charity foundation dedicated to help burn victims. Sylvestre was sentenced to 6 years minimum time
served, in 2009, and was released in 2018. Lynch, the ex-boyfriend, was jailed for life with a
minimum of 16 years. He won’t be considered eligible for release until at least 2025.
4. Reeva Steenkamp
Reeva Steencamp rose to fame as the face of Avon Cosmetics. Having attended and graduated
law school, she was praised for her work ethic and was a prominent advocate for women’s rights
and victims of sexual assault. Steencamp met a tragic and violent demise, in 2013. Her partner,
Olympic star Oscar Pistorious, who was famed for his running feats on two prosthetic legs,
shot her four times in their shared home. The story made news headlines worldwide.
Pistorious claims, to this day, that he’d mistaken her for an intruder in their home,
but his former partner, amongst others, claimed he had a history of violent behavior.
He was sentenced to six years in prison, which was later extended to 15 years minus his time served.
3. Elisa Bridges
Elisa Bridges was a model for Playboy, appearing in numerous videos and special
edition publications. Born in Florida, and raised in Texas, Bridges had gotten into
modeling for the travel opportunities, and was said to be a shy, petite girl,
weighing only 90 lbs and standing at 5ft tall. She was also an actress and starred in two comedy
movies, before her untimely death in 2002. Bridges was found unresponsive in bed and CPR
was performed, but she was ultimately pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. Playboy stated
that she’d passed away of natural causes. However, it was later reported she’d died of
a severe overdose after consuming a cocktail of 4 different drugs. She was 28 years old.
Today's topic was inspired by Nathalie Elesia and Romella Karmey,
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comments section below 2. Petra Nemcova
On December the 26th of 2004, Petra Nemcova, a Czech born supermodel, was taking a morning walk
along a beach in Khao Lak, Thailand. She was joined by her photographer boyfriend Simon Atlee.
She’d noticed the water retreating, but didn’t think much of it. Back at her bungalow, Nemcova
soon discovered what was happening when she heard screams and saw people running. Suddenly,
a torrent of water destroyed her bungalow and swept both her and her boyfriend away. It was the
infamous Boxing Day Tsunami, which tragically went on to kill over 230,000 people across Asia, making
it one of the worst natural disasters in modern history. Nemcova was able to cling to a tree,
where she stayed for 8 hours, watching the water wash debris and bodies into the ocean.
She survived the disaster, but her boyfriend, unfortunately, met his fate
as one of over 5,000 people who were killed on Thailand’s west coast. Nemcova went on to
found the Happy Hearts Charity, which has rebuilt over 100 schools impacted by natural disasters.
1. Isabelle Caro
Modeling is often regarded as one of the most physically and mentally demanding careers
and Isabelle Caro was a victim of one of the most common afflictions in the industry.
A French-born model and actress, Caro had suffered from anorexia since the age of 13,
and rose to prominence after allowing an Italian advertising campaign to feature her
severely malnourished body to raise awareness about the disease. In the process, she became
“the international face of anorexia”. She was later a judge on the French version of
“America’s Next Top Model”. During her shoot for the Italian ad campaign she weighed just
60 pounds, at 5 foot 4 inches, which is around the same weight as a large microwave oven. Caro
was pressured by her mother not to gain weight during childhood. Her mother also prevented her
from interacting with other children as a way of sheltering her from any contagious diseases.
Isabelle Caro tragically passed away, in November of 2010, at the age of 28. Her anorexia and
the damage it had wrought on her body over the years were cited as a main factor in her death.
Thanks for watching! If you were rich, would you date a supermodel even if you knew he
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