President Donald Trump’s modeling agency is preparing to shutter for good, according to an email from the company’s president obtained by Mother Jones.
“The Trump Organization is choosing to exit the modeling industry,” Trump Model Management head Corinne Nicolas warned her colleagues in a note over the weekend. “On the heels of the recent sale of the Miss Universe Organization, the company is choosing to focus on their core businesses in the real estate, golf and hospitality space.”
The President retains an 85 percent stake in the 18-year-old modeling agency, one of several firms operating under the Trump Organization’s umbrella, according to Mother Jones.
Calls to Trump Model Management’s New York headquarters went unanswered on Monday, and there did not seem to be a voicemail service set up. The company had confirmed that “on the heels of the recent sale of the Miss Universe Organization, the Trump Organization is choosing to exit the modeling industry” in a Friday statement to the New York Post.
Trump Model Management has been plagued by months of bad press, spearheaded by Mother Jones. Last week, the publication reported on the steady departure of models and senior staff who disagree with Trump’s political views and rhetoric about women. Prior to the November election, Trump’s campaign pushed back against allegations that the agency knowingly hired models who lacked the appropriate documentation to work in the United States.
Rachel Blais, a former Trump model, told Mother Jones she worked for the agency for six months in 2004 without obtaining the proper work visa. Blais’ account, and similar stories from other onetime Trump models who chose to remain anonymous, were backed up by legal filings.
