A year after finding fame in the industry via a competition sponsored by Ford Models, Kendra Spears left the agency and signed instead with Next Model Management. This sort of move in the modeling industry is, glamorously, deemed a defection, and led Ford to file a lawsuit against Spears for breach of contract since she signed with Ford for three years, and left the agency too soon.
As the suit ran its course, Spears was at first banned from working for Next, before that ruling was overturned on appeal. The latest development is that the model owes Ford $150,564 in back royalties and fees, a financial judgment that the model agency has already asked a judge to enforce. So it’s a good thing Spears is a big enough name to walk most runways for pay, not just trade.
