And again a hero from his pedestal

Mario Testino bites the dust

I remember so well seeing him. It was at the Le Meurice hotel in Paris and he was sitting right behind me. As if it was nothing. Later I found out that Kanye West was sitting next to him. I totally missed that. All eyes were on Mario. The. Mario. Testino. The official photographer of Vogue, the close friend of Lady Diana, the Peruvian benefactor (in his most recent Instagram post he thanks everyone who helped build hospitals in Peru that were destroyed by the floods) and the house friend of Anna Wintour.

What few people know is that Testino is the most educated photographer in the world. He studied economics, law, and international relations in succession, but realized in London that photography was his great love. There he started shooting portfolios of aspiring models. It cost 25 pounds and you also got a little makeup and a hairdo with it.

In recent years, Mario wouldn't get out of bed for much less than a hundred thousand. A bed in which he will stay all day today. With a duvet over his head, I fear. Mario is the next to fall prey to #metoo. He allegedly abused his power and forced young male models to watch while he masturbated.

Is he falling from his pedestal? Maybe, because it is terrible if people are traumatized by his actions. Am I surprised? Well, no. Testino is known for working with nudity. A little nipple, some pubic hair peeking out from a pair of shorts... All allowed in the name of fashion. Then you also understand that not everyone in the photo studio kneads the aluminum foil that their sandwich was in into a ball, throws it in the trash, and hops on their bike to go home at half past five. Something happens on such a set. It brews and bubbles and sizzles and hums. Then things can happen. I'm not saying it's good, but that it has occurred in a long career like Testino's I find unfortunate, but it doesn't surprise me.

Do you know what's ironic? Or at least remarkable? That the biggest pervert Terry Richardson (you know, the one who almost got fired a few years ago because he sent a compromising email to a model and promised her a cover if she wanted to have sex with him) seems to remain unscathed. Because people expect it from him? Or was he a barking dog that didn't bite? Or is that little door going to open soon?

I was a bit speechless and had a hundred questions in my head.

What do we mean by ‘groping’? Is that a hand on your chest? On a buttock maybe? Was it so bad that you want to come out with it twenty years later? Should someone's career end because of it? Is it appropriate for Vogue to fire him immediately? Does the rule apply here that when it comes to #metoo, you seem guilty until proven otherwise? Or is there more going on than I know and we know and is the dismissal completely legitimate? Is he perhaps really an old pervert and was it high time that the bean came to his (insanely high) payback? Can I still find his photos beautiful?

Of course, I may not have any opinions and especially not complain because I am not a victim. Far from it. I have no idea what it must be like to feel abused in any way and I can imagine that you have to take a huge step to come out with your sadness and park your shame.

Still, I have a hard time with the fact that my heroes don't seem to be who I thought they were. A very complicated sentence, I know. My daughter has discovered the series from my time. We binge Full House and Who’s the Boss?. How I would have loved for her to experience the joy I had with The Cosby Show, but I can no longer show that. Then just The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. There's nothing wrong with that. Let's hope it stays that way.