WWW- Runway rebel Kate Moss was nearly stripped of yet another modeling gig yesterday, but experts predict the furor over her alleged cocaine use will blow over soon.
Coty-owned cosmetics giant Rimmel became the latest firm to express “shock” over tabloid photos showing Moss apparently arranging and snorting lines of white powder. Rimmel said yesterday it was “currently reviewing her contract.”
The move comes after Burberry, Chanel and H&M dumped the proto-waif earlier in the week and London’s Metropolitan Police said it was looking into the damaging drug allegations.
Moss, 31, finally broke her silence yesterday and released a public apology taking “full responsibility for my actions” and acknowledging “that there are various personal issues I need to address.”
The supermodel’s dramatic fall is “hypocritical” – and almost certainly temporary, said two fashion-industry experts. “This is not news. Most models do cocaine. And Chanel and Burberry hired her for the fact that she is a cutting-edge personality who brings a whiff of rock ‘n’ roll to their brands,” said Michael Gross, author of “Model: The Ugly Business Of Beautiful Women.”
“Of course she’ll bounce back,” Gross added, expressing respect for her work. “I predict either Dior will triple her contract or some jeans company will come along and give her a giant deal that generates a huge blast of publicity.”
Others pointed out that Moss was allegedly “hoovering” cocaine during her spare time, not on a major client’s dime.
“This woman wasn’t missing deadlines or snorting with a baby in her right hand. This didn’t affect her professionally,” said Donal McIntyre, the British documentarian behind the 1999 fashion-industry exposé “Undercover: Fashion Victims.”
“I hope she gets better for her own health. But the people who gave her these contracts are as immersed in the world of excessive alcohol and drug abuse as she is,” he said. “She’s probably a hotter property now than ever before. If not for the media firestorm, she’d still have all her contracts.”