Kim Kardashian's Photographer Marcus Hyde Accused of Soliciting Nudes from Aspiring Model
Celebrity photographer Marcus Hyde, who has worked with Ariana Grande and is a personal photographer to Kim Kardashian West, is facing backlash after screenshots were published that appeared to show him initially agreeing to shoot a model for free, until she refused to send him nude photographs of herself.
On Sunday, a Los Angeles-based model Sunnaya Nash shared several screenshots of a direct message exchange between herself and Hyde, that began after he made a post on Instagram, seeking out models to photograph.
As their back-and-forth began, Hyde asked the model, who goes by the Instagram handle @sunnnaya, whether she had any nude photographs to send him.
“Nude?” he wrote.
“I don’t have nude photos,” the model responded, to which Hyde replied, “It’s 2k then.”
“But nude is free?” Nash asked.
“Ya,” the photographer succinctly wrote.
Nash went on to share that while she would feel comfortable doing a nude photoshoot, she didn’t want to send Hyde any nude photographs of herself.
“Then don’t,” he replied, in additional screenshots of the exchange shared by popular Instagram account Diet Prada.
Inquiring whether Hyde would still be willing to do the photoshoot with her, he shared that he would, if she agreed to pay him the money.
“Bc i wont send you nudes myself before shooting?” she wrote.
“Yeah. Gotta see if your worth it,” he replied, adding that he was “serious” after she laughed at the proposition.
“Miss me with that s— boo,” she wrote. “Yeah, you wack.”
“Find someone else,” he replied. “Ill keep shooting celebs.”
According to Diet Prada, as the model’s followers began reposting screenshots of their exchange on social media, sometimes adding the hashtag “Cancel Marcus Hyde,” Hyde sent her an angry message on Instagram.
“Suck a fat big d—,” he wrote, according to screenshots.
“Is that the best you can do?” wrote the model, who went on to post a slideshow of images of their entire exchange on social media, captioning it, “Ur fav male photographers are grimey 🤭 @marcushyde.”
Hyde has not responded to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
In their own post, Diet Prada went on to call out Grande and Kardashian West — who has traveled with Hyde and who was photographed by him in Bali just days before he was involved in a near-fatal car accident — imploring them to speak out about his behavior.
“Gross @marcushyde . @kimkardashian @arianagrande, come get your boy and teach him some decency,” the account wrote.
Kim and Kanye West both donated $25,000 to Hyde after his near-fatal car accident in October. Hyde made his first public appearance since the crash in April at West’s Easter Sunday Service at Coachella where he was pictured sitting in a wheelchair in between Kim and Kourtney Kardashian.
On Monday, Grande seemingly spoke out about the allegations in her Instagram Story, by making a statement against photographers who make models feel uncomfortable. In her post, she told all models and artists that they should not shoot with photographers who “make you uncomfortable or make you feel like you need to take your clothing off if you don’t want to.”
She added, “If you want to, sick. but if you don’t, please don’t. If they tell you you have to pay more money if you’re clothed that’s f—d and I’m sorry that has happened to you. I promise there are so many respectful, nice, talented photographers out there.”
Grande wrote that she “hates” hearing stories like this and she’s “sorry that that was anybody’s experience.” She ended by encouraging people to look out for one another by tagging friends on posts by photographers whose work they admire and who they have enjoyed working with.
Nash went on to share screenshots of some supportive messages she received since speaking up, many of which were from women who shared their own negative experiences with Hyde.
While some of the messages, which all obscured the name of the sender, revolved around similar situations, others contained allegations of sexual misconduct and assault.
“Lots of girls are dming me coming out that he sexually assulted [sic] them and would manipulate them into having sex with him by not sending their photos after the shoot. Absolutely horrifying,” the model wrote on Twitter.
Continuing to share the messages she was receiving, on Monday the model also thanked everyone who had reached out to her.
“Thank you for all the support and shares,” she wrote on Instagram. “Thankful to have a community like this and I support and encourage everyone speaking up! I really did not expect any reaction from this you guys are amazing.”
