December 22, 2023
In New Lawsuit, Trans Model Frances Coombe Says Agency Killed His Career
Emell Adolphus READ TIME: 1 MIN.
A trans model is accusing Muse Model Management NYC of killing his career in a federal lawsuit alleging civil rights and gender identity discrimination.
As reported by The Daily Beast, Frances Coombe has appeared in Vogue, i-D and Women's Wear Daily, but all those gigs reportedly dried up when the model came out as a transgender man last year. Coombe claims the agency deemed him "insufficiently masculine" to work as a man and dropped him from their roster.
Coombe filed a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court Tuesday.
"It is no surprise that models evolve their looks, and I had been moving towards more androgyny for quite some time, as have many of my former agency's models, both male and female," said Coombe in a statement provided to The Daily Beast by his attorney, Jillian Weiss. "... I am filing this lawsuit so no other models of any gender need ever face such job discrimination in the modeling industry in the future."
In an email, an attorney for Muse Model Management NYC founder and president Conor Kennedy said Coombe's lawsuit is "surprising and disappointing."
"We look forward to clearing Muse of any alleged wrongdoing," they said.
Coombe, now 30, was discovered in his native Toronto at the age 16 and signed with Muse in 2011, according to the lawsuit.
