David LaChapelle Gets Sued By Former Lover For $75 Million

by The Daily Front Row

(NEW YORK) David LaChapelle has another lawsuit on his hands, according the New York Daily News. In December, LaChapelle sued former lover and agent Fred Torres for $2.8 million, claiming that he was owed the amount for unpaid proceeds from the sales of his works. Now Torres is biting back and suing LaChapelle for a whopping $75 million. The charge? Torres says the celeb photographer owes him $25 million for expenses incurred from processing the famous photographs and traveling to sell them around the globe. He also claims that LaChapelle did a bit of espionage work by planting spies at Torres’ business, Fine Art Account, Inc., to steal his client list, which Torres says is worth $40 million. Torres also has 1,277 prints for which $5 million in fabrication fees went unpaid. And to top it off, Torres is asking for $300,000 that he says he is owed for the photog’s personal expenses, which include everything from extravagant entertainment to toiletries.

To add insult to injury, the two actually live in the same Chelsea apartment building, albeit in different apartments. Torres now lives with another beau, but is claiming expenses tied to the decor of LaChapelle’s apartment. At Torres’ abode, LaChapelle is also being accused of beating and strangling a 25-year-old Montana art gallerist named James Parmenter, who’s now suing the photographer for $1 million. No wonder LaChapelle has fled the scene; according to the NY Post, LaChapelle is currently vacationing in Maui on his organic farm, which was once a nudist colony in its former life.
PAIGE REDDINGER