Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Cassi shoots Portmans, gets cyberbullied by ANTM hosts



On Thursday frockwriter first mentioned that ANTM 2009 runnerup Cassi van den Dungen was returning to her childhood modelling agency, Tanya Powell, and had booked a first job with Portmans. The shoot took place on Saturday in Sydney and here are three shots - two of which appeared in the Herald Sun yesterday (with the hilariously provincial headline, "Forget New York, this is the big time"). This is a lookbook designed to accompany Portman's September collection and it will be primarily featured online - but also possibly on point of sale material in-store. It was shot by Nicole Bentley, who also photographed Kelsey van Mook for Portmans' August campaign. The Tanya Powell agency reports that it is currently fielding approximately 10 job offers for van den Dungen. UPDATE 29/07: Van den Dungen signs with Work Agency.

Alex Perry and Charlotte Dawson meanwhile - the two ugly step-sisters of the ANTM Cinderella machine - have both been whinging on Facebook about van den Dungen's decision not to accept the ANTM-affiliated offer of Priscillas and Elite contracts.

Perry, moreover, who noted on Facebook at one point that he is so "OVER THE BOGAN", has made quite some fuss over van den Dungen's nerve in sending him a Facebook friend request.

Perry put the decision to accept or decline the friend request up to Facebook vote and solicited the yays or nays of his follower posse. Over 60 responses ensued - most to the negative.

If you are going to berate your show's teen contestants for bitching, snarking and bullying, have the grace to follow your own example.





27 comments:

Nathy said...

Too right Patty, Alex and Charlotte shouldnt be bullying a teenager for her decisions in life. Its beyond crazy! Come on she already has a campaign out, before the real winner of ANTM. She will go far.

Anonymous said...

Good on Cassi for taking her own path, hopefully it will eventuate into something big!
She does look great in these shots... slightly too smooth but good none the less!

As for Alex Perry... well.. not even sure what to say! He should keep his thoughts off the internet!

Anonymous said...

this bitchiness coming from a fashion designer who is apparently 'not gay' *cough*

Anonymous said...

Alex Perry should try to be more "EXPENSIVE" rather acting cheap.

Anonymous said...

Cassi looks amazing! Well,I am still disappointed that she didn't sign up with Elite but Alex has no right to do that to the former contestant!
So unprofessional,I mean he isn't perfect himself,former over weight,insecure,plastic....Plus his stupid gowns are just a cheap tranny knock off of a Valentino anyway.blah!

Anonymous said...

Cassi looks really beautiful!! yay Cassi! I agree Patty that it lacks class for someone like Alex Perry to bully someone who is virtually still a kid.
Patty the other interesting thing today is that Sarah Murdoch launched Tony Abbott's new book Battlelines. Murdoch wrote of her voting decision, "in the end she couldn't trust Cassi would represent the show and what I stand for" ... It is not unreasonable therefore for one to assume Murdoch "stands for" the sentiments of Abbott's book calling for the reintroduction of fault based divorce? I did. My work colleagues did. Mmmmm great role model for young Australian girls???

Tia said...

She may be an immature lil whatevs but OMG she photographs soo well, I'm jealous. Whatever happened to Tahnee?

Anonymous said...

Well said Patty!

Anonymous said...

She is beautiful.Wish more bogans would look like her!
Patty you are my favourite fashion reporter!

Sunster said...

Love the eyes, love the nose, and those lips , basically great face, but please have a feed bogan girl, I hear they do a great rack of lamb out west, eat one once in a while, those arms and legs are dangerously close to Anna

concerned

:-)

Patty Huntington said...

selezna or wintour?

RunwayRevolution said...

^ at last look, Selezna. Wintour at least looks like she accidently swallows while gargling food every now and then...

Alex Fairy said...

^ Patty, I think Sunster means Anna R., she's been a hit on the Paris runways the past few seasons. Lagerfeld in particular loves her!
but yes, I agree with Sunster,.. great face, love her lips, but she does look a bit fragile.. could it be the photoshopping?

Anonymous said...

Why do people always have issues with skinny people and never over weight people?! It is just as unhealthy to be over weight?! maybe.... just maybe Cassi is still in her teen and she is pretty tall so maybe she is naturally that thin?! and yes advertising always get photoshop anyway.
patty you are a thin person,how do you feel about it?
I don't think Alex Perry is being very professional to bitch about a young girl like that.Nasty if you ask me.

Anonymous said...

Anna Rex...
she's everywhere this season.

DARIAN ZAM said...

I thought that it was quite interesting that when Alex Perry made some of his stank comments like calling a girl a "bush pig" it provoked hardly any comment let alone outrage. Feminism is up to you, laydeez.

Alyx said...

Hey Patty,
How public is Alex Perry's profile? Is it a semi-private one, where his activities could be seen as snark for close acquaintances, or one where Cassie could have seen what he had written, making his comments off-the-hook cruel?

Anonymous said...

His profile is private, so Cassi wouldn't have been able to read them herself (although she would most definitely be aware of them by now). And for all the people insinuating Tahnee has disappeared into the abyss - she has secured a six-month exclusive with Harper's Bazaar after shooting her editorial as part of the winner's prize.

Anonymous said...

Your blog is great. I was a fan of the show so its great to follow up on what these girls are doing now.

Alex Perry is way out of line. Cyberbullying-very year 8 isn't it.

Patty Huntington said...

anon @ 6.51:

re the body image debate and skinny-bashing in general, look, this is a wider discussion subject and it's complicated. but that's right, there are various reasons why a model could be thin. as emma balfour recently pointed out, taking drugs is not axiomatically one of them. nor is having an eating disorder. if you look at alexandra agoston-o'connor - who cassi reminds me of in some ways - she has an extraordinarily fine frame and ultra-long legs and torso. interestingly, it was a professional backstage photographer (sonny) who brought up the weight issue. he makes a living out of shooting the world's top runway girls. most of whom would by anyone's definition be considered ultra thin.

darian:

re bush pig comment, i agree, totally unacceptable comment. but i think you will find there has already been quite a lot of commentary about it. not on this blog perhaps - i wasn't covering the show from the beginning - but i have seen commentary on other blogs and i'm sure i spotted flak on news.com.au. i did not watch the entire series, but saw a lot of it later online and covered the finale. i did draft a post at one point, working title "Australia's #@!!*%! Next Top Model", about the fact that while cassi was singled out for dropping the F word, other contestants and even some of the hosts (Dawson for example) appeared to regularly swear on the show. like many posts that don't see the light of day here due to time constraints, it remained in draft form. there are lots of issues i would love to have the time to cover. i can barely manage trying to focus on paying work and keep this blog moving, as it is. i am not trying to make excuses. but there you have it. sarah murdoch is not just the host, but an exec producer on the show, so you have to assume she signed off on all that language going to air. personally i don't think it sets a very good example. i would wager that the producers love it because they think it makes the show juicy.

a time to be selfish & anon @ 7.48:

alex perry's facebook profile might well be set to private. but as we all know facebook is not private. it is "semi private" and, pending the size of your FB friends circle, the information you choose to publish has the potential to be widely circulated. it's not like perry sent a private email to one person and someone hacked into it. i don't have access to perry's or dawson's facebook pages (up until a week ago i was not even registered on FB) however people are constantly drawing my attention to facebook material, as no doubt occurs with plenty of other ppl. you don't post material on facebook with impunity in other words.

i was going to name this post "cassi.....gets iced out of facebook by alex perry" but of course i don't know for sure if he accepted her friend request or not. given how much time he and others seem to have spent slagging her off on it, i doubt very much that he'd be going out of his way to provide access to that information. that doesn't mean she won't get to hear about it via numerous other parties.

bullying is not just direct physical and verbal intimidation. there can also be a passive aggressive element, when less direct bullies use covert tactics, spread rumours about others, discuss them behind their backs and attempt to ostracize and marginalise them. you see it in children all the time.

so, perry and dawson are pissed that cassi didn't accept the priscillas/elite contracts. kvetching about her or any other teenage contestant of a show they are contracted to work on, does not seem a particularly professional way to go about things.

AAAAA said...

not a fan of cassie, but she looks amazing in these photos

maxie said...

alex perry is a reprehensible human being for some of the comments he has made towards the young girls in the show.
i understand ANTM needs to be entertaining, but both he and charlotte dawson have repeatedly crossed the line in their bitchiness.
especially given how pertinent the bullying issue has become since demelza's behaviour in the previous season.
i can only hope sensible young women will retaliate by boycotting this overexposed dressmaker.
PS. I wouldn't be caught dead in one of his 'gowns'. there are so many other talented australian designers, why is this logie-frock designer considered one of the country's best?

Anonymous said...

ah there is no way she got this job through a ettiquette school in melb guys.... I think shes signed with a sydney agent??? Priscillas could still have her?!

Anonymous said...

On the hunt are we? Haha I bet all these agencies like vivs and chadwicks are dyinggg to get her! Well who ever has her must be very honoured... Also alex perry is such a douche... Pick on someone ur own age eg. Bert newtown

Anonymous said...

I'd say that Priscillas would have got the ball rolling with negotiation with Portmans, but Cassi decided not to sign with them, so portmans followed her to Tanya Powell and booked the job through her.
No wonder people on the show feel a bit let down and betrayed by Cassi, Priscilla's went into bat for cassi, gave her their vote talked her up, believed in her, a lot of energy that could have gone into promoting a girl that would appreciate and return the investment.
i have worked with priscilla's in the past and I can say that they are very good to their models, look after them and treat them like gold!And I certainly wouldn't begrudge Cassi going to her childhood agency, if that is where she feels secure and happy, that is her choice and a good one for her.
I don't think her choice of agency will be the problem for her, rather her personality, I have worked with many teens like Cassi, they always have someone "saving" them, and when one lot get sick of it, another lot come along to take up the "poor Cassi", until they get the same treatment as the previous "savers" and the cycle goes on
It may look all Cassi right now, but a year down the track it will be all about Tahnee because she has the personality to keep friends and keep clients, just my opinion!

Anonymous said...

I was looking for nicole bently, the photographers agency and I found cassi in the models part. Nicole shoots for portmans and does some fantastic stuff! Here's the site workagency.com.au. The agency is little but represent a good bunch of talent :) they prob don't care for publicity and aren't hungry for pr like Tanya powel who cant even give good advice! Anyone seen their site? It's pretty bad. They tell u to wash ur hands after fake tan! Ah it's the fashion industry darling we do it professionally

Patty Huntington said...

thanks for the tip. see new post.

Blog Archive