"I photographed Princess Stephanie on her birthday."
The most glamorous photographer of the 90s, Alexander Borodulin, has been accused of sexual harassment by dozens of models during photo shoots.
The renowned glossy fashion photographer, who shot for American Playboy and Vogue, is being mass-accused by young women of inappropriate behavior. According to the models, the scheme was as follows: the photographer lured them to a one-on-one meeting at his Moscow studio under the pretext of a casting for a movie. Allegedly, Alexander would play a key role in the film, and he needed a partner. But to become a "Hollywood" star, the model-actress had to shoot an erotic promo and try her hand at an explicit bedroom scene — all on a commercial basis.
The models told "Baza" that Borodulin convinced the girls of the "innocence" of the shooting process — only romantic kisses and hugs, but in reality, it was not always limited to that. For instance, according to one girl, she agreed to this "minimum," refused any continuation, and when she came for payment for the shoot, the photographer began to harass her anew:
— "He started pressing against me on the couch, stroking my chest over my top. I got scared and ran away," the girl recounts.
Some models, apparently, have a more understanding attitude toward such shoots and are not against explicit shots with "continuation" — actresses report that they have witnessed such erotic scenes after arriving early for the casting.
After the girls began to report their cases en masse, the photographer's daughter, Zoya Milova, emerged, threatening those who reported the harassment with criminal liability online. However, she declined to comment to "Baza." Borodulin himself does not respond to journalists' calls.
Alexander, the son of the classic Soviet sports photographer Lev Borodulin, worked in the West with leading supermodels and American and European glossies — in the 90s, he opened one of the first modeling agencies in Moscow.
"I photographed Princess Stephanie on her birthday for a new collection by Jean-Claude Jitrois. The shoot took place in a hotel in Paris. And Stephanie herself was such an enfant terrible, as they say. And at one point, I saw her sitting, so to speak, on the toilet and smoking something. She was wildly popular at that moment, and I thought that if I had snapped her at that moment, that photograph would have been worth tens of thousands of dollars. But due to my innate sense of decency, I did not do that, and besides, in that case, I would have spoiled my relationship with L’Officiel.
I also photographed Mickey Rourke when he was not yet a star, but was just becoming one. He lived in a modest apartment. On his birthday, he invited all his friends, but it was not some glamorous story. He also invited the housekeeper who worked in the same building — she often helped him. And so he invited her into his company."
One of the victims of Alexander Borodulin's actions recounted that several years ago she attended a "casting" at the agency "AVA Group," located in an apartment-office near the Sukharevskaya metro station. The video shows captured examples of such "castings."
The first meeting was ordinary — scouts communicated with the girl, and she filled out a questionnaire. However, after that, she was invited to meet with the "chief producer" Alexander Borodulin. After a brief conversation, according to the girl, the photographer offered her a shoot in lingerie.
The shoot quickly went beyond formal work.
— "He took a couple of pictures and started stroking my buttocks, my chest," the girl recounts. — "Then he suggested intimacy, and when I refused, he said: 'Let's do it with your mouth.'"
The victim admits that at that moment she was overwhelmed with panic, she quickly got dressed, grabbed her things, and ran away. The thought of going to the police never crossed her mind. She confessed that she feared problems due to Borodulin's connections.
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