Trigger Warning: This article includes discussion of alleged sexual assault.
From Abercrombie model to Fast X star, Alan Ritchson reveals the struggles and darker side of his modeling career before his rise to Hollywood fame. The 43-year-old said he was the victim of predatory behavior.
Alan Ritchson alleged male photographers preyed on him while working as a model
The actor, best known for starring in the action series Reacher, joined the Armchair Expert podcast on July 27. He spoke about the troubling and disturbing encounters he faced during his modeling career.
He told Dax Shepard why he remained silent during the #MeToo movement. Ritchson explained that he feared speaking out because he felt the modeling industry “is set up to facilitate that kind of behavior.”
Ritchson revealed that he began modeling after being discovered during college days. He eventually left school to explore where the career could lead. The move helped him become a well-known face for Abercrombie & Fitch, where he starred in nationwide campaigns, as reported by Radar Online.
“Abercrombie for me is like… I remember when the whole #MeToo thing started happening, then to like Bruce Weber who shot that kind of stuff and the stories that were coming out and the allegations were like, ‘Yep, that happened to me. That happened to me. That happened to me.'”
A 2018 New York Times report highlighted allegations against Weber and led more than 20 male models to accuse him of sexual misconduct, coercion, forced nudity, and unwanted touching. Weber later settled several civil lawsuits out of court in 2021 without admitting wrongdoing.
Ritchson said he considered speaking out during the #MeToo movement but ultimately chose not to. He explained that fear of starting a difficult conversation held him back, even though he had a public platform. “Part of it is like, I don’t want people to think I’m doing this for publicity. I don’t want to bring this s— up.”
However, he expressed disappointment that the accusations against Weber did not lead to any significant action. “It was like, man, I just wish people knew what was going on in that business, and that something was being done to protect people, because the photographers were largely predatory,” he stated.
Ritchson didn’t hold back about the industry and told the host, “The whole system is set up to facilitate that kind of behavior. You’re traded to photographers. You’re traded between clients that want to, you know, have you. The agents are doing it, and they know what they’re doing.”
The actor said he confronted an agent after a disturbing incident during a photoshoot. He went directly to the agency and confronted the person involved, accusing them of treating the situation like “a game.”
Ritchson, who starred in films like The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, had previously spoken about the experience.
In a 2023 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he criticized the lack of regulation in the industry, calling it a “widely known secret” that “if you’re hired on a job, you’re basically being passed off to a photographer to be trafficked.”
TELL US – WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON ALAN RITCHSON SPEAKING OUT ABOUT HIS MODELING EXPERIENCES?
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support. If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
Reported by Meenakshi Sengupta on Reality Tea.
