Selena Christina Perez gets paid to be sizzling, but recently she’s been scorching the earth for free.
In a current social media submit, the mannequin alleges she’s owed $3,000 for her work with legendary make-up artist Pat McGrath — money that Perez claims has been lacking for over a yr.
But it isn’t Dame McGrath withholding fee. Instead, the 23-year-old Brooklynite is accusing a well-known agent named Shannon Leebern, proprietor of the Ludlow Scout modeling company.
The submit is just one of many on a newly-launched Instagram profile called Ludlow Scam, detailing the company’s alleged sins including unpaid invoices, threatening texts and weird excuses for lacking money.
Through a lawyer, Leebern insists that she is the one being scammed by “a disgruntled photographer who has been paid in full.”
The mannequin mess, she vows, is actually one massive “smear campaign.”
But in just a week, over 20 fashions, photographers, stylists and mother and father have called or emailed The Post, alleging that Ludlow Scout owes them 1000’s of {dollars} in promised refunds or unpaid labor.
Perez, who has also modeled for Makeup by Mario and Aritzia, is one of them.
Over TikTookay, the Brooklyn resident shared what she claims are screenshots of unpaid payments, emails from Pat McGrath’s finance workforce, pages from her Ludlow Scout contract and texts from Leebern about fee delays.
“I’ve heard she was getting a divorce. I’ve heard her mom is ill. I’ve heard every excuse under the sun,” a pissed off Perez advised The Post.
Meanwhile, Leebern’s lawyer claims her consumer “has devoted her time and energy 24/7 into making sure the models had everything they needed.”
So who is the actual trend sufferer?
Ludlow Scout, based by Shannon Leebern (above), has obtained an “F” ranking type the Better Business Bureau. Courtesy Ludlow Scout
Ludlow Scout opened in 2014 on the Lower East Side. Helmed by Leebern and her then-partner Della Bass, it served as a “mother agency,” discovering new expertise in states like Leebern’s native Georgia, then coaching them for catwalks New York and Paris.
(Della Bass left to create her own profitable company in 2023. She has not been accused of any wrongdoing by Ludlow Scout’s previous or present purchasers. She did not reply to The Post’s request for remark.)
The company constructed a sturdy status for unearthing rural Southern beauties and turning them into elite fashions for Gucci, Marc Jacobs and Maybelline. Ludlow Scout also represented controversial thin-fluencer Liv Schmidt, who later grew to become an on-line pariah for her anorexic “hacks.”
But a number of sources contend that Ludlow Scout has dimmed since Bass departed in 2023.
The chief allegation: Models are paying anywhere from $350 to $750 for check picture shoots — even though, these sources claim, the cash is stored by Leebern herself instead of used to pay photographers. Photos are delayed or withheld from mannequin portfolios, Balenciaga goals are dashed, and money is now allegedly lacking.
Model Selena Christina Perez claimed on TikTookay that she is owed $3,000 by mannequin agent Shannon Leebern. Courtesy Selena Christina Perez
Jennifer Boland, a Florida mother whose teen daughter signed with Ludlow Scout this spring, advised The Post about her expertise working with the company.
“From the beginning there were red flags,” said the mom of three, who alleged that “I would send one Venmo payment and there would be immediately a request for another one — I mean, within hours.”
Boland claimed that this spring, she paid $1,600 for a number of picture shoots, including a session with an skilled photographer who counts supermodels like Isabeli Fontana and Candace Swanepoel as muses.
But Boland alleges that after she wired cash to the company particularly for the shoot, the “beautiful” pics were on lockdown because Ludlow Scout hadn’t paid the photographer — and the mother was left scrambling to pay for the shoot herself.
The Post reviewed an intensive e-mail chain between Boland and Ludlow Scout with emails signed with Leebern’s full title, Shannon Wall Leebern, and including a mobile phone quantity affiliated with the company.
In the emails, Boland was promised a immediate refund in three installments. The company despatched $600 on Sept. 26 with a observe:
“You will receive the next tomorrow [Sept. 27] and the final one on Wednesday [Sept. 28].”
Photographer Nick Glover took photos like this one for Ludlow Scout fashions. He despatched debt collectors after company CEO Shannon Leebern, but the Ludlow Scout founder claims she should not be personally liable for her company’s alleged actions. Nick Glover
But as of immediately, the Florida mother of three claims she never obtained the next two funds.
“I received $600 on the 26th,” Boland wrote to The Post in an e-mail. “Nothing since.”
Puzzlingly, Leebern’s lawyer also advised The Post that just because her consumer is the co-founder and CEO of Ludlow Scout doesn’t imply she herself is personally liable.
“Ludlow Scout is the trade name of a Georgia limited liability company. Shannon Leebern is a manager and owner of Ludlow Scout. Contracts between Ludlow Scout and models are contracts between the company and the applicable model…,” the assertion learn.
“To the best of Ludlow Scout’s knowledge, Ms. Leebern has never personally guaranteed any contract or obligation of Ludlow Scout.”
Bonnie Nichoalds has shot imagery in the New York Post, like this trend shoot above. She is among a number of photographers who have contacted The Post about mannequin agent Shannon Leebern. Images: Bonnie Nichoalds
Similar allegations against Leebern have landed Ludlow Scout company with an “F” ranking from the Better Business Bureau (BBB), citing 15 complaints from fashions accusing the company of thefts ranging from $850 to $8,000.
“They scammed me and the photographer out of $750 for a photoshoot and still has not created my model book,” says an nameless on-line grievance from this spring, with loads more in that same vein.
(BBB permits anonymity, but calls for a authorized title, skilled e-mail tackle and screenshots or invoices to confirm allegations.)
Multiple photographers have gone on the document to The Post with their allegations — including feted snapper Nick Glover, who has labored for excessive finish trend home Christian Dior, superstar lenser Bonnie Nichoalds and Bloomingdale’s photographer Alain Vasallo.
In communications obtained by The Post, Vasallo wrote to Leebern expressing concern that two fashions confirmed up for a photoshoot with him — even though nobody gave him a heads up.
“Both [models] mentioned that Ludlow had booked and confirmed the shoots with me,” he emailed. “However, I had not received any communication or booking confirmation from your agency.”
The replies, which are signed “Shannon Wall Leebern, owner/partner,” push back:
“I did confirm the shoots with you and everything was booked on our end. I wouldn’t have had the models pay and fly to Miami if it wasn’t confirmed already. So maybe you didn’t put it on your schedule or just forgot about it.”
Vasallo accommodated the shoot as a good will gesture, but when he requested for fee, the agent modified her tune:
“Looking at these photos I don’t even remember booking with you. I think I was trying to book another photographer and gave the girls the wrong contact info… These are not the images I was expecting at all… Honestly very annoyed now.”
A social media submit by photographer Bonnie Nichoalds on Sept. 7. @bonnienichoalds/instagram
Vasallo pressed for his $750 price, but Leebern wrote in the e-mail to “stop harassing” her, including, “It’s not even that large an amount.” ($750 is almost double the each day pay of an common New Yorker.)
When requested about the alleged apply of reserving photographers with out their information and withholding charges, Leebern’s lawyer wrote that it was “conceivable” they couldn’t “finalize the booking” after first suggesting a photographer to their purchasers.
But Ludlow Scout insists that it’s “not aware of any instance in which a photographer was knowingly represented as booked when no booking had been made.”
Still, photographer Perla Diaz alleges that’s precisely what occurred to her.
In a Sept. 28 e-mail to the Bibb County, Georgia police division, Diaz advised Sgt. George Witherspoon:
“Shannon booked a shoot under my name with a model named Lauren and collected payment for it, without ever arranging it with me.” She included screenshots of her textual content alternate with the mannequin as proof.
An nameless account called “Ludlow Scam” appeared on Instagram in September. @bonnienichoalds/instagram
Diaz already tried to file go well with against Ludlow Scout in Los Angeles, but was advised to attempt Georgia, where Leebern conducts her enterprise, instead.
Through her lawyer, Leebern said, “Ms. Leebern and Ludlow Scout deny any wrongdoing.”
As allegations swirl, the nameless Ludlow Scam account on Instagram boasts a chatty fan base of of fashions, influencers and trend trade followers dying for zero-calorie tea.
But Ludlow Scout’s attorneys say the account has not stored its techniques above board, pointing out that the web page tagged Leebern’s underage son and some of the household’s non-fashion associates in its digital diss tracks.
Still, Leebern’s attorneys have been unsuccessful in banning the web page thus far, in half because the offender hasn’t been unmasked.
In communications seen by The Post, Leebern accused photographer Nichoalds of creating the nameless diss-Toks, though she’s denied all wrongdoing — and looped in her own lawyer.
The drama has gotten so messy that Nichoalds and fellow shutterbug Dametrius Ward say they are planning a “Ludlow Scam” documentary, and “manifesting” the work with a mock-up of a Netflix poster utilizing Leebern’s 2023 mugshot from a DUI arrest in Georgia. The submit has over 6,000 likes on Instagram.
Meanwhile, Selena Christina Perez tells The Post she merely hopes for her a decision.
The mannequin claims that after posting her TikTookay video, Leebern called her demanding its elimination. She refused.
Selena Christina Perez advised The Post she hopes for decision, and in the end fee. Selena Christina Perez
“I’m a hardworking person,” said Perez. “Maybe $3000 isn’t a lot to her, but to me it’s rent. It’s tuition… She claims to support young women but she’s just sad.”
In her assertion to The Post, Leebern’s lawyer once again defended her consumer:
“Fashion is a passion of Ms. Leebern’s and her clients being the most successful version of themselves, has always been her goal. To see that mischaracterized, by these false allegations, has been very disappointing. She looks forward to resolving these matters and continuing to provide the utmost support for her clients and development for their careers, to help them achieve their goals.”
After a number of inquiries, Ludlow Scout’s lawyer also advised The Post that — shocker — the firm “does not agree with the broad characterization that it withheld money owed to the model.”
But because of a selection of elements, they’re “retrieving and reviewing the relevant records before making any further statement.”
Perez hopes it’s a financial institution assertion.
As she tells The Post, “I’m so grateful I get to be a model… and I want to finally be paid what I’m owed.”
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