Ugly World of Modeling: Drugs, Rape, Predators, Isolation

 

Share

0

And, notes McMullan many models abuse drugs like cocaine and have poor eating habits to stay thin. "Often girls take pain relievers to keep from getting hungry, and coke gives them energy when they drink," he said. "And the Russian girls can drink them all under the table."

"They don't want to gain weight, and there's the stress of not eating and working hard, drinking coffee and sometimes they are into cocaine, particularly if they drink a lot, to balance it all out."

No Family Guidance

Korshunova may have needed help, but had no family guidance, according to McMullan. "You feel like you don't have anyone to lean on."

"I see a lot of models and some of them are so waiflike that a mean comment could blow them away," he said. "They don't have enough life experience. They grow up too fast and they are missing a lot of their childhood."

McMullan's son Liam, who at 20 works in dance clubs as a musician, is surrounded by these child models -- some of them as young as 13, who arrive in packs with their promoters.

Like ordinary adolescents, these models straddle a fragile emotional world between childhood and adulthood. And sometimes what leads them to suicide seems incredibly banal.

"Her boyfriend probably left her," he speculated. "And there was probably a lot of vodka involved."