Kate Moss: finally some sense

The Independent Online has published a piece which demonstrates quite clearly that I was not the only one to smell a rat with regard to the recent Kate Moss cocaine debacle. This article is a breath of fresh air amidst the unbearable reek of recent press coverage of this issue--I regret that copyright restrictions prohibit me from posting the article here in its entirity.

Instead, I will offer some of the choicer excerpts from "Fallen woman: Shaming of a supermodel" (a title which I happen to think is a bit pretentious, but it's a great article nevertheless):

It is not that anyone is surprised about Kate Moss and drugs. She has been in rehab before. It is more about the sudden impact that recent revelations have had upon the supermodel's life and future, and, indeed, on the glamorous world of fashion.

I'll skip over Moss's statements of responsibility and contrition, which she made shortly after my previous post here. This is not to trivialize her statements, it is simply because I have to cut something out...

The Daily Mirror pictures, which purported to show Moss snorting cocaine while hanging out with her rock star boyfriend Pete Doherty at a recording studio, have sent a wave of panic through the fashion industry. A successful [and, apparently, unidentified] stylist, who works for glossy magazines and quality newspapers, confirms that Moss is renowned for her drug use in the fashion industry. But the brutal and public exposure of this has been received with horror by most in the fashion industry.

"The British press have a habit of building celebrities up then bringing them down," she said. "Look at what happened to Jude Law recently. I think people feel Kate Moss has responsibilities as a mother to her two-year-old daughter, that if she was a 'normal' person the social services would be after her. But the overwhelming view is that drug use happens in the music industry, in journalism and in the City. The fashion world feels as though it has been unfairly targeted."

Skipping ahead a bit:

Moss has never set herself up as a clean-living role model. She never denied being a party girl. She has always been photographed by paparazzi with a cigarette dangling from her fingers. This has increased a sense of injustice from the fashion world at her treatment this week in some sections of the media. "This is a media-driven witchhunt," the former women's magazine editor [again, apparently unidentified] says. "The newspapers keep saying cocaine is a fashion industry problem but the truth is that it permeates all professions and all classes. Where is it going to end? Kate Moss never works again and we're all glad about it?"

Skipping ahead again:

Richard Benson, a journalist and cultural commentator, says these companies have been put in a "tight spot", particularly H&M and Rimmel, who sell to teenage girls. But he is also angry about the reaction to Moss's cocaine use. He says male pop stars who take drugs and also have children are rarely criticised for their parental skills.

"When Paul Gascoigne admitted beating up his wife, why didn't England's sponsors withdraw when he was then picked for the team?" he asks. "Taking drugs, hitting your wife, it's a thing men do. Moss takes cocaine and doesn't hurt anyone, but is hunted by the press."

As Moss is vilified, so Doherty continues to be glorified. There is little, it seems, that the self-confessed junkie Pete Doherty can do wrong. After all, he is a rock star, even if he does not quite manage to get records released or make it to many gigs because of his habit. Most people at London Fashion Week agreed on one thing, that Kate does not need Pete. "People think it's tragic," one insider says. "Most think she should get rid of Pete Doherty; he's an idiot. Simple as that."

Although Benson is equally dismissive of Doherty, he feels more angry about hypocrisy. "I don't see any evidence that cocaine is used in the fashion world any more than in music, film, advertising or, crucially, journalism. I'd say the City of London is more riddled with coke than fashion is. We have this 1950s attitude that cocaine is a high-life drug, the byword for urban sophistication. Fashion is seen as the high life and there's a knee-jerk reaction to hate it." [emphasis added]

Well, that pretty much says it all.

Kate Moss Update

There goes another one:

Rimmel continues isolation of Kate Moss over cocaine claims

The career of Kate Moss continued to unravel today when another fashion company that employs the model indicated it would drop her over allegations of cocaine abuse.

Rimmel London, a cosmetics company that has used Moss to sell metallic cream eyeshadow and full volume mascara since 2001, said that it was reviewing its current contract with the model, which was due to last until 2007.

"Rimmel London is shocked by recent press allegations about Kate Moss's behaviour and is currently reviewing her contract,'' said Caroline Pycroft, a spokeswoman for the brand, which is owned by Coty Inc, a cosmetics company based in New York.

And these hypocrites even had the gall to use the word "shocked."

But wait. There's more. Now there's talk about taking her kid away (from that same article):

Moss also faces an interview with social services to see whether she is fit to care for her two-year-old daughter Lila Grace.

Lila’s father, the magazine publisher Jefferson Hack, is said to have been alarmed by the drug-taking reports and could seek custody.

Then there is this, which offers a clue as to what is to come:

Burberry, which has used her in five of its last six campaigns, said that it hoped she would overcome "her current circumstances"

Note the use of the word "current," which obviously implies Moss's drug problem can be overcome. Which, of course, is probably true. But don't be surprised to see Moss badgered into rehab, followed by her becoming the #1 poster girl for the anti-drug campaign.

So Kate Moss is a drug user. So what?

I don't cover recreational drug use in this blog very much. It is, however, something which fits well within my original vision. So I would be remiss in failing to comment on the recent Kate Moss flap.

It seems that some tabloid published pictures allegedly showing Moss snorting a line of cocaine. Moss later admitted that was an accurate description of what she was doing. Then the shit started to hit the fan.

First Hennes & Mauritz dumped her:

Clothing chain Hennes & Mauritz said Tuesday that it would drop a planned advertising campaign with model Kate Moss after she admitted to recently using cocaine. H&M had planned to use Moss to launch a collection designed by Stella McCartney. H&M initially said it would proceed with the campaign, but a company rep said Tuesday that "we have decided that a campaign with Kate Moss is not consistent with H&M's clear disassociation from drugs."

Some more on H&M's reaction:

Yesterday's bold statement from H&M will do her no favours. 'H&M is strongly against drugs and for many years has actively supported the drug preventing organisation Mentor Foundation,' it said.

[...]

The Mentor Foundation is a not-for-profit international organisation which works to prevent drug misuse among children and young people.

It is not known if H&M will recoup any of the money it paid Moss for the campaign. The pictures for Miss McCartney's range, taken several months ago by Mario Sorrenti, were due to be launched in November.

The designer is said to be 'apoplectic with rage' at Moss. A source close to her says she feels particularly let down because it was she who suggested the model to H&M. The source said she was determined not to be associated with Moss's drug-taking lifestyle.

Okay, here we have the first problem with all of this. It has long been known, by anyone with half a brain, that Kate Moss is a recreational cocaine user, and a fairly heavy one at that. Hell, even I was peripherally aware of it, and I don't follow the fashion industry at all. So I find it a bit surprising for H&M and McCartney to imply they were unaware of it. Yes indeed, they are shocked, SHOCKED! to discover that Moss is a cokehead.

Next, the police decided it was their moral duty to investigate:

Following the news that she's been dumped by fashion label H&M, the police have now confirmed that the supermodel is under investigation after pictures showed her allegedly snorting cocaine.

A spokeswoman for Scotland Yard said: "Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur has reviewed the matter and has asked officers from the specialist crime directorate to look at reports, as highlighted in a national newspaper."

Apparently, the issue is her influence on young people, who, heaven knows, are all going to rush right out to the nearest drug dealer just because of this sudden, shocking revealation:

News of the end of Moss's contracts came as Sir Ian Blair, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said any decision to bring charges against the model for her alleged drug abuse would depend on her influence on young people.

"We have to look at the impact of this kind of behaviour on impressionable young people and if there is evidence, something should be done about it," Sir Ian said.

Most recently, Chanel and Burberry decided to join the pile-on (from that same article):

Kate Moss had more bad news today when Chanel and Burberry said she would no longer star in their ad campaigns and the head of the Metropolitan police said examples should be made of celebrity drug takers.

Chanel announced this afternoon that Moss would not represent its Coco Mademoiselle fragrance once her current contract expires in October. Later, Burberry said it was cancelling a planned advertising campaign.

What will happen next? Moss still has a couple of big contracts left, but will she be able to obtain any more once those expire? Is her entire career going to be trashed just for getting caught doing something that's fairly common within the rail-thin, highly-paid model community?

Frankly, this whole thing smells pretty rank to me. It smells like Moss is being scapegoated, and it's smelled like that ever since H&M dumped her. It's not as if this sort of drug use hasn't been going on among the elite for a long, long time. Why are people first starting to care right at this moment? Is it just because the published photos and Moss's admission created a situation they felt they couldn't ignore anymore? Or is it because Moss is a beautiful, successful woman and people often can't resist lashing out at beautiful, successful women out of sheer, petty jealousy? Especially thin, beautiful, successful women, in this western culture where the majority of people have basically given up even trying not to be fat, and who probably, secretly hate themselves for it?

Only time will tell, I suppose. The very first thing I expect to see, if this situation actually is being dealt with fairly, is for the British police to start going after other high-profile drug users.

I'd like to close by recommending a book that, although it was published quite a while ago, and although the author is no longer even alive, has a lot to say about this sort of situation. It's called Ain't Nobody's Business if You Do: The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in Our Free Country, and the author is Peter McWilliams. It's available at that link free of charge. I was lucky enough to find a hard copy of it at the library years ago, but I imagine it's not in print anymore, which would explain why there's a free online edition available. I'd also like to note that, in spite of the fact that Kate Moss's "crime" happened in the United Kingdom, what McWilliams writes applies there just as well as here in the States.

Naked Shakira

No, I don't have naked pictures of Shakira. In fact, my un-hip self is not entirely sure who she is, other than some familiar-named famous person.

However, I did come across this nifty little article, which I wanted to post here:

Shakira Loves Being Naked

Columbian singer Shakira confessed recently that she just loves being naked. When asked if she enjoys shopping new outfits or dressing fashionable, the singer laughed and said she would rather be naked.

"Not at all - it bores me. I only got a stylist when my family was astonished to see me in the same evening dress three Christmases in a row.

"If I could I'd live in the nude, like Eve in paradise." [snip]

Personally, I think the world would be a whole lot better place if more people had that attitude.

A Taste of Halima

New link, posted at left: A Taste of Halima

The author is an exotic dancer and escort, and she writes pretty well, from what I've seen so far. Definitely interesting enough to post the link here and go back later for more.

One thing I feel compelled to note: Halima's blog caught my eye due to the name, specifically "Halima". My ex-girlfriend had a friend (for a while) with that same name--actually, her friend's name was spelled with an "o" at the end, but since it was a Somali name, the transliteration was rather iffy--either "a" or "o" applied equally well. Anyway, seeing the name, I simply had to see what it was about. A woman of Somali ethnicity working as a dancer, perhaps? That would be interesting, although I'd probably be better off staying away if that were the case. But I haven't seen any indication of Halima's ethnicity one way or another, and it turned out her blog is interesting enough on its own merits. Not to mention relevant. So I will be back.

Today is World Naked Gardening Day!

For all people who actually have gardens, today is World Naked Gardening Day! I, myself, don't have a garden. And even if I did, the community where I live has a history of arresting people for "indecent exposure", on the very rare occassions where something like that happens. :-( So, garden in the nude today, but don't get your naked butt busted!

Martin. Frank Martin.

A few days ago on my Blogchunks blog, I noticed a strong similarity between the movie Transporter 2 and some of the James Bond films (Roger Moore era, especially). Well, I came across this today, which pretty dramatically confirms my opinion:


Of course this design is almost identical to that of the promo posters for For Your Eyes Only. Note also that this is the French poster, not the American poster. As with the earlier movie, I guess there were those who found the image too "cheeky" for the American public--only difference is that this time, the prudes got to have their way.