Annie Leibovitz in Lanvin.
Photo By Scott Rudd
SO IT WASN’T ANNIE’S FAULT AFTER ALL: At least one of financial adviser Kenneth Starr’s former clients was unfazed by his arrest on fraud charges Thursday. “News of Kenneth Starr’s arrest does not come as a complete surprise to me, and I will follow this story with great interest,” Annie Leibovitz said after the accountant was taken in on allegations he used his clients’ funds to run what prosecutors called a $30 million fraud. Leibovitz had been a Starr advisee before her much-publicized money troubles in recent years. It was Starr who reportedly introduced the photographer to Art Capital Group, the investment firm that traded $24 million in financing to Leibovitz for the rights to her life work. The loan led to a lawsuit that saw Art Capital attempt to sell the photographer’s two homes, among other means of collection. In the criminal complaint against Starr, authorities allege he funneled investments from his clients to his own interests, and, in some cases, directly transferred money from their accounts to his own. According to the filing, he used clients’ funds to buy a $7.5 million Upper East Side apartment last month. Uma Thurman and Martin Scorsese are said to be among Starr’s clientele. Maybe Leibovitz will take his perp walk photo.
— Matthew Lynch
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