How Annie Leibovitz Got Underwater

(NEWSER) - A financial firm is suing Vanity Fair photographer Annie Leibovitz for failing to cooperate to repay a $24 million loan, reports the Telegraph. Leibovitz last year put up her photographs and two homes as collateral for the money to pay off debts. But now Art Capital Group said the 59-year-old photographer is engaging in "boldly deceptive" conduct to dodge selling some of that property to begin repaying the debt. More»

Photog owes fee for $40M loan: company

(NEWSER) - An investment firm that claims it saved celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz from financial ruin is now suing her for failure to pay the company $800,000 in service and finder fees. Brunswick Capital Partners wasn't paid after finding a private equity group to advance a $40 million loan to bail out the strapped Vanity Fair photog, according to court documents filed in Manhattan. Leibovitz, 60, nearly lost all of her art and the rest of her holdings last year after violating the terms of a $24 million loan, reports Reuters . More»

Photog gets reprieve, but property, rights to work still at risk

(NEWSER) - Annie Leibovitz has won an extension of her outstanding $24 million debt to Arts Capital Group, the New York Times reports. The celebrity photographer bought back the rights to her homes and intellectual property—both collateral in the loan—for an undisclosed sum as part of the restructured deal. But she could still lose them if she doesn't keep up with payments on the renegotiated loan. More»

Fresno Met trying to sell prints to pay off debt

(NEWSER) - Ansel Adams’ family is suing the bankrupt Fresno Metropolitan Museum over its attempts to auction off six prints the photographer donated before he died. The museum closed in January and is now furiously trying to sell off artwork to pay off its estimated $4 million in debt. But Adams' relatives say the “declaration of gift” the family signed when it handed over the prints prohibited such sales. More»

He sues for $300,000, adding to her troubles

(NEWSER) - An Italian photographer is suing famed celebrity shutterbug Annie Leibovitz for $300,000, claiming she stole two of his photos, the New York Daily News reports. Paolo Pizzetti says Leibovitz’s associates hired him to scout locations in Italy for a limited-edition calendar Leibovitz was putting together for Lavazza coffee. He sent them images of the locations, but then was told the shoot had been moved to New York. More»