lawsuits

Annie Leibovitz’s Creditors Want Their $24 Million Back

story1

It must be awesome to be the world’s most-famous lesbian photographer, right? Not if you are Annie Leibovitz, who’s about to see her entire fortune ransacked by her creditors.

To help pay the mortgages on her New York City townhouse and upstate New York home, plus the estate taxes when purportedly inheriting the assets from late partner Susan Sontag, Leibs was up to her eyeballs in unpaid debts (to photo freelancers) and taxes (liens galore). Then along came Art Capital Group, which lent her $24 million over the years to pay her bills. As collateral, the photog — responsible for that terrible Gisele cover and that Disney campaign — offered up her homes and every photo she has ever taken.

With the latest one-year loan maturing, and the debt still unpaid, Art Capital Group wants to know WTF is up with Leibovitz. Her creditor says she’s been involved in “boldly deceptive conduct” to keep Art Capital at bay, so now it’s suing her to gain entrance to her home to create a giant list of everything she owns — so they can begin selling it off.

And ya know who’s to blame for all of this? Well, maybe Leibovitz, who obviously took on a debt agreement that she could never afford to pay back on time. But also: the government! As we’ve noted before, if estate inheritance laws were equal for gays, Leibovitz wouldn’t be subject to something like 50 percent of the value of Sontag’s estate. If the pair had been able to legally marry in New York? Liebowitz would’ve had to pay $0 to get Sontag’s stuff.

Don't forget to share:

Help make sure LGBTQ+ stories are being told...

We can't rely on mainstream media to tell our stories. That's why we don't lock Queerty articles behind a paywall. Will you support our mission with a contribution today?

Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated