19-ear-old Caitlin Williams, the runner-up in a 2002 U.S.-wide modelling competition, won by the Canadian model Jessica Stam with the 1st prize reportedly worth $100,000(on THE PHOTO), insists that the contest was fixed and that the talent agency promoting it stiffed her out of her "guaranteed" second-place prize. Among other successes since she won the contest, Ms. Stam was featured in the May issue of American Vogue as one of a crop of new supermodels.
19-ear-old Caitlin Williams, the runner-up in a 2002 U.S.-wide modelling competition, won by the Canadian model Jessica Stam with the 1st prize reportedly worth $100,000 (on THE PHOTO), insists that the contest was fixed and that the talent agency promoting it stiffed her out of her "guaranteed" second-place prize.
Among other successes since she won the contest, Ms. Stam was featured in the May issue of American Vogue as one of a crop of new supermodels.
Williams claims in a $1.5-million U.S. lawsuit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court against New York Model Management, that the agency had "chosen" Ms. Stam "to be the winner" in advance of the 2002 competition. The lawsuit claims that Ms. Stam, 21, was pole-vaulted straight into the final stages of the L.A. Looks Model Search Contest, whereas Ms. Williams and other contestants had to compete in local events. It also says the competition's rules said contestants had to be legal U.S. residents, but that the Ontario-born Ms. Stam "was neither a U.S. citizen, nor a U.S. resident eligible to work in the U.S." when she won first prize, reportedly worth $100,000.
"Model Jessica Stam, who had not competed in any of the local competitions, was ... permitted ... to enter the New York Regional Competition, where she was then chosen ... to advance to the final competition," says the lawsuit. "Model agencies owe a great responsibility to young models, who place their hopes and dreams in their hands," said Anthony LoPresti, Ms. Williams' lawyer. "It's obvious here that these empty promises of wealth and fame came with a high price."