I wrote this post in May 2018, when it was noticed by some people in the photography Youtube community that Jason Lanier was silently removed as Sony Artisan of Imagery. It was an interesting topic, as it's a very rare thing to happen. Lanier has never addressed this issue, and people were guessing what happened. There were some rumors already at that time that it had something to do with allegations from his models, but it were just rumors. One year later this topic became interesting again. The reason was that several women who used to work with him came out publicly alleging misconduct, some even mentioned sexual assault. This is the reason why I have decided to expand my original post to update on what is happening right now. There's a lot to digest here, so if you just want to know why Jason was dropped as Sony Artisan of Imagery, scroll down to the very end. This post is being updated regularly with new information. Please note that I am merely reporting on what each party says: Lanier made a long video where he alleged several things about his former models, and the models made videos a few days later where they responded and alleged several things about Jason Lanier. Both parties claim that they have initiated a legal process against the other side, but we do not have much details about that. Meanwhile both sides have decided to discuss this publicly, hence my blog and several other Youtube channels, photography forums and websites have been sharing their views. My goal is to not share my opinion on who is guilty of what, I just want to report on what all sides said, I'm merely an aggregator here.Jason Lanier is a photography gear Youtuber, who built up his career with the help of Sony and their Alpha series of mirrorless cameras. At the same time he greatly helped building up Sony's name in the online hobbyist photography community, and probably helped to sell an enormous amounts of their overly expensive Sony Alpha cameras. His clickbait style videos coupled with his arrogant persona often went viral on YouTube and gave Sony immense exposure. Lanier and his antics against Canon and Nikon DSLRs became a known name in the photography gear review community, and was a few years ago one of the top channels. This all changed in 2018.
Analysis of Lanier's Youtube channel
If we go on Lanier's website to his "Who is Jason Lanier" page, the name Sony is mentioned 5 times. The most notable paragraph is this one (as of May 29):
"Jason is a member of the Sony Artisan of Imagery Program, the Worldwide Ambassador for Rotolight, Sponsored Pro for Interfit, and an Affiliate with ThinkTank Camera Bags, Adorama, and Spiderholster."As it turns out, this information is outdated, because for some unknown reason a few days ago he was totally erased by Sony.
Removed as Sony Artisan of Imagery
This was first spotted by another popular Youtube photography gear review channel called "The Angry Photographer". This is what he posted on his Instagram:
Link to source.
Link to source.The information turned out to be true. If you google "Jason Lanier Sony Artisan" today, you can still find a lot of cached results, but all links to Sony's websites lead to "the page has been taken down" notices. A few days later Sony's Youtube channel set all Jason Lanier videos to private, as the Angry Photographer noticed, and posted a screen grab on his Instagram channel:
Link to source.What is going on with Jason Lanier?
I believe brands are never acting illogically. There must be a solid reason as to why Sony has removed one of their artisans from all of their websites and social media. Something big must have happened. Did Lanier do something bad? Did he start with another brand? I have no idea. But the result must be devastating for Lanier, who unlike other Youtubers put all eggs into one basket. Let us see his most recent videos, a screen grab from Youtube (source):
Compared to his old videos from a few years ago, some of which had way over 100,000 views, his latest are barely seen by anyone: On average it's 2000 to 10,000 views per video with one exception: A Sony video had nearly 50,000 views recently - how ironic. I don't know whether Sony removed Lanier because of his lesser irrelevance among online photography influencers (Lanier made it barely into the Top 20 in 2018), or whether there was something else, but this is kind of a first in the industry. I don't ever recall Nikon or Canon removing any of their ambassadors like this. Knowing Japanese corporate culture, I can only suspect that something really really bad had happened, something that brought great shame to Sony. I do wonder what Lanier will do now, when the brand that made his channel turned their back on him.
Ken Wheeler a.k.a. The Angry Photographer has a theory:
Learn more about "The Angry Photographer".Exclusive: Ken Wheeler aka “The Angry Photographer” on Sony firing Jason Lanier as Ambassador of Light pic.twitter.com/GtzYVsiZjD— TAIPEI GEEK (@TaipeiGeek) June 23, 2018
Serious allegations about misconduct with a model
A woman named Jade Galloway, who was Lanier's former model that often appeared in his earlier Youtube videos, went to her IG and posted following post about Lanier:
"THE TRUE STORY; So all that about stepping back from modelling to pursue an actual career was half true and half bullshit. Jason Lanier completely ruined my inspiration to become a model. I believe this industry is full of fakes, liars and pedophiles. I worked with Lanier from 14 till I was 19, in that time he flirted touched my butt and “complimented” me in a ways no boss should. I wasn’t able to attend a Las Vegas trip because Customs was suspicious as to why I was travelling so much (Jason is too cheap to pay for a working visa for his models... he also doesn’t even claim what he pays them on his taxes*) so he was a little upset but I had just turned 19 (or was about to) when he asked me to go to England and Ireland, I wasn’t aware this trip was just the 2 of us but didn’t worry till we arrived to the Hotel room which only had 1 bed. I requested a cot at the front desk and put it in the room because my father raised me differently and I was not about to sleep in the same bed as my boss AKA an old man. I told my father and because there had been no issues before we all thought it was a money issue. That was until his whole attitude changed, I was a little mad about it all so I told him I was just home sick he ended up putting me in my own hotel half hour away and didn’t even offer dinner that night. We got over it, I blamed myself and so did he. A few months later the East Coast swing with the perfect trio happens.... This new assistant Emily is all about saving money soooo she decides to put us in an AirBnb (totally fine and actually way better than a hotel cause of the amenities*) till we realize it’s a duplex housing unit in the slums and the owners looked like straight crack heads, there were abandoned building all around me with people still living in them and I was so worried about leaving my stuff in a house with people that looked so strung out so I sent pictures of where I was staying to my dad and to my boyfriends mom Dyane, my dad was sleeping but Dyane got them and sent her son to go get me that first night. We were in such a bad neighbourhood a cop pulled up to his car at a red light and told him to treat them as 4 way stops, not to look at anyone."Her follow-up post:
"I’d just like to say thank you so much for all the love and support regarding my last post. I’m still trying to get through all the messages and comments but I promise I will get back to everyone very soon!! I would like to point out that none of this was influenced by anyone but Jason’s actions I’ve wanted to tell my story for so long but was silenced by being scared of an invalid contract! I have my voice and I want to help others find theirs I know I’m not the only one and I know there are worse stories out there we need to stop this from happening to anyone else so LADIES, take a damn stand!!! Use your power and stop hiding behind fear TOGETHER WE WILL RALLY!!!!"These are some very serious allegations, but we have to be very clear: They are just allegations. We still have the legal principle of being innocent until proven guilty. I'm just posting this here, because my article spiked interest these days, people are curious about what is going on again with Lanier. I am just reporting what was posted by others.
The allegation by the model was backed by another photography gear Youtuber named Ken Wheeler (aka The Angry Photographer), who is also using his social media platforms to spread the information. We still don't know who is right, at this point it's just accusations and allegations. The Angry Photographer deleted his video on June 28. The reason is unknown.
Lanier responds to Jade and The Angry Photographer
Jason Lanier published a 1h long video response on the recent allegations, where he blames the Angry Photographer for manipulating models and orchestrating a conspiracy behind the scenes. He portrays these women as coming from broken homes and taking advantage of him and his kindness. Please also check the comment section of that video, a lot of former models are speaking highly of Lanier, and vouching for him (UPDATE: He is deleting critical comments by former models, so be mindful of that, and see more below).
Duration: 1:01:31 (Date: 24 June, 2019)
Photography Youtuber Amar Talwar supports Lanier
The author of the photography Youtube channel 247 Media Group (formerly known as Passion & Mastery of Light In Photography) made a very emotional video where he shows support for Jason Lanier, and voices his disgust and disapproval of Ken Wheeler a.k.a "The Angry Photographer". He believes Lanier was wrongly accused, and calls upon other larger Youtube photography channels to make videos of support of Lanier and band together to get The Angry Photographer channel banned by Youtube.
A screen grab of Amar's video (he removed the video a week after publishing it).Several women speak out
8 former models of Lanier made this video and created a channel showing solidarity.
#1 Jade Galloway, the main accuser, made a longer response video to Lanier, where she says that she is not involved with the Angry Photographer. She calls Lanier a liar, she says he slept with her in the same bed while on a shoot in England. It's an emotional video, 32 minutes long. She also made a video posted on instagram with 8 other women who say they stand with her.
Jade's video duration: 32:01 (Date: June 27, 2019)
#2 Sierra Green, another former model that worked with Lanier in the past, made a response video as well. She says Lanier took video clips of her and other models out of context and created a story to make himself look good. She says he's scripting lies, and added that he will be going to a real court.
Sierra's video duration: 14:24 (Date: June 27, 2019)
Sierra made two more videos the next day, this time much longer ones. Both combined are about 1 hour long. In the first video she states:
"On May 22, 2018 the FBI opened an investigation on Jason Lanier, following the claims of several allegations of sexual assault from his models. There are also reports of being underpaid, not following proper business etiquette, and using or abusing images that he had take of us."She also said in the video that she was "legit sexually assaulted", and that he was "groping her". She said it took her 2 months to realize everything, she turned to substances and spiraled into depression. She said during that time Lanier removed images of her from Instagram, footage of her in various promotional videos etc. just to hurt her. She alleges severe manipulation in his position of power by taking advantage of vulnerable models.
Sierra's video duration: 35:08 (Date: June 28, 2019)
In the second video she talks about what it meant to be Jason's "travel companion", how she has let him know her boundaries (not to touch her in certain places), and how he got mad at her after that (she alleges that he expected sexual contact from her). She also talks about how she felt being underpaid, because he often changed her roles from travel companion to model to travel companion.
Sierra's video duration: 34:54 (Date: June 28, 2019)
#3 Alyssa Obrien is another former model that published a video in response to Jason Lanier. In the video she alleges that Lanier touched her repeatedly, such as "put his hands in her inner lap in the car". She said it all started when she had the first shoot. She let him put a large costume on her, and she says "he used this opportunity to had her stripped down". She was 18 at that time, and she felt she was taken advantage of. She said he used this instance to push boundaries with her, such as booking a single hotel room with one bed and a small couch, where she "reluctantly" slept in the same bed with him and felt very uncomfortable. She also said he made her feel uncomfortable during photo shoots, and was generally manipulative during the time they worked together. She also alleges that he yelled at a model who had a mental illness, and even made fun of her. That was the last straw for her, she says, and she soon after quit working with him. She said Lanier is very different than how he appears in his videos, made her and other models feel like "they were nothing without him".
Alyssa's video duration: 36:48 (Date: June 27, 2019)
In case you don't want to watch the whole video, check this 2 min clip she added at the end. It's a very emotional outburst that sums up how she feels towards Lanier:
Emotional video by a former model that worked with Jason Lanier, alleging that he was taking advantage of her and other young women for his personal gain. #WeStandTogether #MeToo pic.twitter.com/IS7eSkREMX— Taipei Geek (@TaipeiGeek) June 29, 2019
#4 Tiffany Ferguson is another former model that worked with Jason Lanier that spoke out about her experience working with him. In her video published on Vimeo and Youtube, she told a story how Lanier once offered her the modeling assistant job. Because she knew he changed a lot of assistants in the past, she was cautious, and asked him what he expects from her. He allegedly told her that he expected "companionship". He then added that the reason why so many girls left previously is because they were not capable to fulfil his expectations. She asked him what does “companionship” actually mean, and he allegedly told her these things: "You are basically his girlfriend. You sleep in his bed. He doesn’t expect you to warm up to him immediately, but he does expect it to be quickly. You rub his shoulders, and give him sexual favors." She said he basically expects the girl to prostitute themselves for the position, and declined his offer. He was not angry, and they continued to work together after that. But she alleges that he occasionally sent her suggestive messages, things like asking whether “she was good in massages”, and that he would like to “try her”.
Tiffany's video duration: 22:17 (Date: June 29, 2019)
#5 Joyce Hernandez, a former assistant at wedding shoots with Jason Lanier, begins her video by stating that not all experiences with him were bad, but things changed to worse after his Youtube channel became more popular. She then talks about how he became obsessed shooting naked models. Initially she says he did it in his workshops, later he did not want anyone present except Joyce and the video guy, but she was wondering why they are shooting this, if Jason is not using any of these images. She says he became very angry, if she did not find models that would be willing to shoot naked. She said she was very grossed out. She also alleges he was very controlling, and cheap when it comes to food. She then breaks down in tears, and says that he called her a "hoochie, hoe, whore" in front of workshop attendees, as well as "your crackhead biological mother" in front of her kids. She says as he became more famous, he began touching models, making salacious comments towards them, being inappropriate, and a lot of these girls were young, some even under-age. In the second part she tells a story how he went to take a nude shoot with an 18-years old model alone, and while she was changing clothes, he allegedly grabbed her butt according to the model.
Joyce's video duration: 26:46 (Date: June 30, 2019)
Joyce's video duration: 35:14 (Date: July 1, 2019)
UPDATE (MARCH, 2020): Joyce deleted her videos for unknown reasons.
#6 Kira Lawrence, a former model of Jason's, made a short video responding to Lanier's video where she alleges that he used one of her old videos out of context to make himself look good. Here's a part of what she says in the video: "I do not like, nor do I trust that man. I would not recommend young women to work for him. When they asked me if I liked him, I'm not gonna say during the job 'No, I find him very creepy and inappropriate, and I won't be ever working with him again." Originally I embedded Lanier's video, but then for some reason he deleted the video on July 1st.
Kira's video duration: 1:21 (Date: June 30, 2019)
UPDATE (MARCH, 2020): Kira deleted her video for unknown reasons.
#7 Ashley Miamontes is the seventh model that spoke out. She alleges that after he (she bleeps out his name) lured her alone to a nude shoot, and she went back to the car to put her clothes on, he came from behind and touched her private parts and said "good job". She also said he was touching her in the chest area during a photo shoot, and that he did this to several women. She calls him disgusting, a liar, and added that he ruined modeling for her.
Ashley's video duration: 18:58 (Date: July 1, 2019)
#8 Brenda was his long term assistant and a staple in his videos. She talks about her experience with him, and how the relationship deteriorated over the time, as he was trying to control her more and more and eventually pressuring her to behave like his platonic girlfriend (she says he knew she had a boyfriend). She then quit after that request. He claimed he fired her, so part of the reason for this video is to clear her name.
Brenda's video duration: 22:10 (Date: July 8, 2019)
UPDATE (MARCH, 2020): Brenda deleted her video for unknown reasons.
#9 Christen used to be a former model who worked with Lanier in 2016 and before. She said after a while they went on a trip to a photo shoot in another country, and he was not happy that she talked to her boyfriend on the phone, which lead to hours of silence. Once they reached the destination, he talked with her and told her that he expected more from her, to be his companion. She was shocked, called her family and boyfriend, and requested a flight ticket back. He did it, and she returned the next day. After she stopped working with her, she says he lied to other people about her: He allegedly said that she was in love with him, and that she wanted to break up his marriage.
Christen's video duration: 31:27 (Date: July 8, 2019)
UPDATE (MARCH, 2020): Christen deleted her video for unknown reasons.
Other Youtubers speak out
#1 frankthespank has noticed that Jason Lanier is deleting critical comments under his videos, among other the comments by former models like Kira Lawrence, who he has featured in his own video. In fact, he is deleting any critical comments.
Frank's video duration: 2:29 (Date: 27 June, 2019)
Frank made another highly emotional video about people who support Lanier, and ended it with a criticism of Tony Northrup and his Afghan Girl scandal.
Frank's video duration: 4:28 (Date: 19 July, 2019)
#2 Skyler King made a very thought-provoking video about the Jason Lanier controversy. He points out some very interesting things about Lanier and the women, which he believes are red flags, such as playing sappy music, deleting comments, and using other models' testimonials as a way to prove his innocence. According to Skyler this does not prove anything, it's a red flag, and it's "childish and ridiculous", and "makes him look more guilty". He also said Ken Wheeler should not be part of this discussion, he does not believe Ken would be able to orchestrate all this given the high number of models coming out.
Skyler's video duration: 28:11 (Date: 28 June, 2019)
#3 Lucy Sanches, a concerned mother, made a short video and offered some words of encouragement to the models.
Lucy's video duration: 5:44 (Date: 3 July, 2019)
#4 Jon Stynes shares his experience doing a photo shoot with Jason Lanier and chimes in on the abuse scandal. He was disappointed as he was not able to get the shots he wanted, nor the promotion he expected. He then talks about the models' allegations from the 17:40 mark on. Says he was a big fan of Jason before, but doesn't understand why Jason focuses so much on Ken Wheeler, he believes it's a smoke screen. He says when he watches Jade's video he feels there's no way she is lying, but when he watches Jason's video, he believes he is lying. He says he is an actor.
Jon's video duration: 43:35 (Date: 6 July, 2019)
#5 David Weller made this video where the first half is made of a few clips of the girl's testimonials, the second part is made of examples of Jason touching models which David scooped from Jason's own publicly available videos.
David's video duration: 16:55 (Date: 17 July, 2018)
David Weller's second video compilation is shocking. It shows Jason Lanier off the record with extremely disturbing and degrading remarks towards women.
David's video duration: 19:46 (Date: 22 July, 2019)
Weller made another video, the third in the series, that addresses the issue of Sony dropping Jason Lanier as an ambassador. It shows his hypocrisy.
David's video duration: 5:21 (Date: 25 July, 2019)
#6 Manuel Guzman, a photographer, breaks down Jason Lanier's videos, suggests that Lanier was grooming young vulnerable girls and explains how this happened. In his first part he explains what happened from the beginning when Lanier was dropped as Sony Artisan in 2018 until June 2019 when several women came out against Lanier. Very deep and thought provoking video.
Manuel's video duration: 1:21:57 (Date: 4 August, 2019)
Manuel's video duration: 34:24 (Date: 1 August, 2019)
Jason Lanier deletes a lot of videos from his channel
It seems that Jason Lanier deleted a lot of his videos in the past 3 days. According to SocialBlade, he lost over 1.8 million views in 3 days. This is due to deletion, the site explains (see here). It is unclear as to why he deleted videos with so many views.
Youtuber Irene Rudnyk announces to speak out
#7 Irene Rudnyk, a popular photography Youtuber with currently over 500,000 subscribers, has announced to speak out against Lanier. She has previously collaborated with him, they published several videos of that collaboration in September 2017. This is what Irene announced:
Jason Lanier removed as Rotolight ambassador
If you visit the Rotolight page for Jason Lanier, you get a "Page Not Found" notification. Rotolight posted a statement on their Facebook page that they have suspended cooperation with him (read more about it here).
Jason Lanier responds after Rotolight removal
In his video response he claims he suspended the cooperation, and he's threatening Ken Wheeler again. He blames Ken here for harassment, but there is no evidence that Ken plays any big role in the #WeStandTogether movement aside from using his platform to spread the women's side of the story.
First article in the industry about Lanier allegations
The Phoblogapher is the first large photography blog to write about the Lanier allegations. The author who has herself experienced sexual assault says:
The experiences these women speak to are deeply concerning. Their professionalism was compromised (a model should never be put in a situation where they are there to work and discover that anything beyond professional responsibilities are expected of them). Friendliness is not an invitation for sexualization. Asking your employee to behave as your ‘platonic girlfriend’ is never a part of the job description. And the overlaps in these women’s stories if true is important to give attention to; slapping female talents’ butts is not an acceptable form of behavior; dismissing, discouraging, or shaming your employees for having romantic relationships is none of your business as the boss; the gradual evolution of escalation, accompanied with increased expectation; the change in crew from multiple people to just the two, model and photographer; expecting your model to share a bed with you, even if totally innocent in nature; expecting various levels of non-professional companionship from a professional employee.
Videos and photos of Lanier touching models appear
A screen grab from one of Lanier's own videos.
Several videos and images of Lanier touching women have appeared on the internet. These are clips from his own Youtube videos combined together. Here are the links:
Video Link 1 >>
This video originally posted by David Weller is made of various clips of Lanier calling women various names.
Some examples from the video:
• "Don't talk back to me you little bitch." (referring to his assistant)
• "This is before this little hobbit was born". (referring to his assistant Joyce)
• "Tonight's not the night, Bentley." (referring to his assistant Joyce again)
• "Mamacita, that's pretty caliente." (referring to the model)
• "Joyce likes it caliente, don't you, my little cochinita?" (referring to his assistant Joyce who is Latina; "cochinita" means "baby pig" in Spanish)
• "Oh, that was the sexiest shot of your butt. Your work it, girl. Baby got back!" (referring to a model)
• "Hi gingerbread!" (referring to a red-haired woman)
• "Somebody's trying to kick my crotch, I think it's honey pod (referring to the model)
• "Who's behind me? Gosh, you hooker!" (referring to the female assistant photographer)
• "You know you want it." (referring to the model)
• "Your accent screams hillbilly hick." (referring to female workshop attendee)
Video Link 2 >>
The second was also originally made by David Weller. It starts with an excerpt from Lanier's defense video where he says photographers should never touch a model. The video then goes on showing various instances where he was touching models.
Some examples from the video:
• "Spread your feet out for me, Gwen. There you go, sweetie."
• "You did great honey, thank you." (taps the model in the back)
• "Oh my gosh, that is sexy" (referring to a model who was allegedly underage at the time of the shoot)
• "There you go, honey." (saying to the model)
• One clip shows him applying red paint all over the upper part of the model's chest.
Video Link 3 >>
The third video picks up where the second video left, and shows more examples of Jason Lanier touching models and being the initiator of the touching.
Some examples from the video:
• "You know what an unboxing is?" (made the model look like a bimbo)
• "Can't you be like those birds in Africa that start chirping when the leopard comes to warn the baboons?" (making the model weirded out)
• "What a selfish little pig. Look at you, stealing all the lines" (chastising a model in front of others)
Images Link >>
This is a compilation of 16 images showing Lanier touching models. These are screen grabs from his Youtube videos, most of which he has removed from his channel.
Lanier's second 1h long video
Duration: 1:11:41 (Date: 19 July, 2019)
Jason Lanier's second video response to the models was over 1h long as well. For some reason he deleted it shortly after publishing it, then he reposted it and edited out some parts. At the end he deleted it again, then made it available unlisted. People speculate that he did that because he misrepresented Irene Rudnyk, at this point a much bigger and more popular Youtuber, who got back at him with this comment:
Screen grab source.
Lanier pleads innocence, announces retreat
Several hours later he posted this message on his Facebook page (and pinned his wife's comment on top):
The Angry Photographer responds
Ken Wheeler a.k.a the "Angry Photographer" responded on his Instagram shortly thereafter alleging that Lanier was playing victim and was "utterly disgraceful":
Lawyer Jeff Bennion chimes in
Jeff Bennion, a Photographer who is also a lawyer chimes in with a very interesting comment under this video:
Here's another article about the legal side of the Jason Lanier vs. models allegations.
Irene Rudnyk issues another statement
Irene Rudnyk made another statement in regards to her recent dispute with Lanier on a new video by Vince Revolution that basically summarized my blog post:
Fstoppers wrote an article titled What to Do If You've Been Sexually Assaulted.
Jessica Kobeissi (a photography Youtuber with 1.4 million subscribers) made a video about photographers abusing their position of power to harass and exploit models. She listed a lot of examples that sound similar to those of the women who accused Lanier.
Jessica's video duration: 53:06
APPENDIX: Why was Jason Lanier removed as Sony Artisan of Imagery?
His former travel companion Sierra Green alleges that she contacted Sony a year ago and informed them that there's an ongoing FBI investigation of Jason Lanier. Watch the video.
EXCLUSIVE: Former travel companion of Jason Lanier talks about why he was removed as #SonyAlpha Artisan of Imagery. #WeStandTogether pic.twitter.com/kup1x72ImA— Taipei Geek (@TaipeiGeek) June 29, 2019
A year later we don't have any new information about this issue. Some of the women who accused him deleted their videos, most are still up. Meanwhile Lanier continues to update his channel, and is using various different equipment, not just Sony or Godox, two brands that have removed him as ambassador when the scandal happened. His channel is mainly irrelevant since the scandal, because photography websites don't reshare his content anymore. As for the lawsuits and FBI involvement, which was touted from both sides, the girls and Lanier, we have yet to see any result of that. When there are any new developments, I will update here again.
