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Couple ordered to pay $1m for defaming their wedding photographer

S

Shiggy

Member
An autumn affair at the Petroleum Club in downtown Dallas, the union of a full-time beauty blogger and the love of her life, appeared to be a gorgeous thing — marred by one misfortune. Three months after the ceremony, in front of a local television crew, Andrew and Neely Moldovan showed off a box of empty picture frames.

Their photographer was withholding the images, they told NBC affiliate KXAS in January 2015, and was demanding an extra $150 when they’d already paid thousands. “It’s heartbreaking, because, you know, these are our memories,” Neely Moldovan said. And many agreed.

“Wedding photographer holds couple’s pictures hostage,” blared the Daily Mail a few days later.

The Moldovans’ sympathizers descended on photographer Andrea Polito’s review pages, calling her a scam artist, or worse. Her reputation was ruined, her business dried up and she closed her studio.
Click to expand...

Polito sued the Moldovans, claiming all they ever had to do to get their glossies was fill out a form, choose options for their wedding album and pay a small charge they had long known about.

The photographer showed the court emails in which she and her employees tried to appease the couple — even as the Moldovans were calling reporters, whipping up a furor on social media and plugging their newfound fame to fans of Neely Moldovan’s beauty blog, Polito said.
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Polito knew nothing about this, she said, until her studio manager texted her a screenshot of Neely Moldovan’s latest Instagram post: “No big deal NBC in our apt.”

Although she declined to appear on camera, Polito sent the local NBC reporter a page-long email: about albums and album covers, contracts, schedules and “a-la-carte items” the Moldovans had yet to pay for.

Almost none of that email appeared in the station’s first January broadcast, which focused on the Moldovans, their empty picture frames and memories held “hostage,” as the reporter put it, over a $150 album cover fee, which he said “the contract doesn’t mention anything about.”

Then, the station released a follow-up report a few days later, with many more details and a story not nearly so simple.

The NBC affiliate described months of conversation between the Moldovans and the studio. The minimum cost of an album cover was actually $125, and a wedding expert who had blasted Polito in the station’s first segment was now defending her after learning more about the case.

But it didn’t make much difference. “The damage had already been done,” Polito told The Post.
Click to expand...

On Friday, a jury in Dallas decided that the tale of the ransomed wedding photos was not heartbreaking, and not even true.

In fact, the jurors concluded, the accusations amounted to malicious defamation, for which the Moldovans should pay the photographer more than $1 million in damages.
Click to expand...

More more at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...fee-so-a-jury-told-them-to-pay-her-1-million/


Just goes on to show how hostile accusations on (social) media can be, and how they can ruin people's lives. At least in this case, justice was served.
 
D

Dali

Member
Like these dipshits that can't even pay $150 have a million. The news station should be taken to the cleaners.
 
A

Akuun

Looking for meaning in GAF
Yeah, this couple's tantrum ruined this person's business, costing however much income that business would have made for years or decades. Also hurts the photographer's chances of finding new work, since plenty of employers will google her name, find a shitstorm, and nope out.

Fuck this couple.
 
F

Feel the Swift

Member
Akuun said:
Yeah, this couple's tantrum ruined this person's business, costing however much income that business would have made for years or decades. Also hurts the photographer's chances of finding new work, since plenty of employers will google her name, find a shitstorm, and nope out.

Fuck this couple.
Click to expand...
This.

Dali said:
Like these dipshits that can't even pay $150 have a million. The news station should be taken to the cleaners.
Click to expand...
Uh, it seems like they're just being cheap. They "already had paid thousands", what's another $150 at that point. Photographer said they knew about the fee from the start. I mean come on.

But also fuck the news but that's to be expected.
 
A

Arrogant Bastard

Banned
The big thing is the fact that it seems like the damage came from people who ran to social media to defame the business. Those people should be held accountable for their own actions.
 
C

compo

Banned
Koren said:
Probably, but that's not new. The problem is that social media don't even have any safeguards that media could have.
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The news station reached out to the photographer, and was given the contract that stated that the couple agreed to the $150 charge, but the news station intentionally left it out of their report to fabricate more of a story. They deserve a suing.
 
B

bonesmccoy

Banned
Whoa.

My wife and I had a disaster of a photographer at our wedding. She came recommended by a friend, her portfolio seemed good, and her price was... 'excellent'.

She was late to the church. She dressed inappropriately. She was late to the post ceremony photos. She disappeared shortly after arriving at the reception.

Best of all was that after 6-7 weeks of avoiding our calls and emails, she finally responds and tells us that she 'got the lighting wrong', that 'most of the pictures didn't work out', and to make it up to us, she would be giving us a 15% discount. I told her she could keep the photos and enjoy the deposit.

Last I heard from her, some 10 years ago, she was screaming about taking me to small claims court.
 
A

Arrogant Bastard

Banned
compo said:
The news station reached out to the photographer, and was given the contract that stated that the couple agreed to the $150 charge, but the news station intentionally left it out of their report to fabricate more of a story. They deserve a suing.
Click to expand...

Yep, to be clear, I'm not saying that this couple shouldn't be held responsible. The problem is, as with all civil cases it is to what percent. There was a great deal of BS around: the couple, social media horde, and the local news. I think dropping a $1 million penalty solely against the couple is a bit excessive.
 
K

kmfdmpig

Member
Hazardous Metal said:
They ruined her livelihood and in turn theirs is about to be ruined. Sounds about right to me.
Click to expand...

Their false accusations caused a problem, for sure, but the news is what amplified the incorrect information. News organizations should be able to differentiate honest concerns with unsubstantiated/one-sided nonsense.
 
L

Linkstrikesback

Member
Arrogant Bastard said:
Maybe the news should also be held partially responsible too.

$1 million for that also seems to be excessive.
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They completely destroyed her livelihood. She'll never be able to work as a wedding photographer again, because people will Google we and see the news against her by this couple.

If anything, 1m isn't enough
 
H

HeySeuss

Member
Arrogant Bastard said:
Maybe the news should also be held partially responsible too.

$1 million for that also seems to be excessive.
Click to expand...

I know you're getting piled on, but this isn't going straight into her bank account. Consider that she closed her business, had a number of employees she was paying, their health insurance, unemployment benefits, legal fees if she filed bankruptcy, and all of her equipment she will likely need to rebuy if she tries to start her business again under a different brand (since her reputation is ruined she can't use the same name).

All in all she probably didn't get nearly enough if her business was of a moderate size with 5-10 employees.
 
C

ClosingADoor

Member
Sounds fair. Looks like this couple was out to promote their own blogs and get coverage, instead of solving the issue and just paying the agreed upon fee.
 
C

cartographer

Member
Arrogant Bastard said:
Yep, to be clear, I'm not saying that this couple shouldn't be held responsible. The problem is, as with all civil cases it is to what percent. There was a great deal of BS around: the couple, social media horde, and the local news. I think dropping a $1 million penalty solely against the couple is a bit excessive.
Click to expand...
Perhaps Polito could use your legal advice and sue more people. Maybe her lawyers got it wrong.
 
C

crisdecuba

Member
bonesmccoy said:
Whoa.

My wife and I had a disaster of a photographer at our wedding. She came recommended by a friend, her portfolio seemed good, and her price was... 'excellent'.

She was late to the church. She dressed inappropriately. She was late to the post ceremony photos. She disappeared shortly after arriving at the reception.

Best of all was that after 6-7 weeks of avoiding our calls and emails, she finally responds and tells us that she 'got the lighting wrong', that 'most of the pictures didn't work out', and to make it up to us, she would be giving us a 15% discount. I told her she could keep the photos and enjoy the deposit.

Last I heard from her, some 10 years ago, she was screaming about taking me to small claims court.
Click to expand...
Wow... just... wow... :-(
 
A

Arrogant Bastard

Banned
cartographer said:
Perhaps Polito could use your legal advice and sue more people. Maybe her lawyers got it wrong.
Click to expand...

Do you disagree or are you just here to be glib?

Linkstrikesback said:
They completely destroyed her livelihood. She'll never be able to work as a wedding photographer again, because people will Google we and see the news against her by this couple.

If anything, 1m isn't enough
Click to expand...

You must have missed the part where she is hopeful this will re-launch her career, I'm pretty sure it will since she is being vindicated.
 
E

Erv

Member
Does anyone know how this works as far as paying. Do they check if the couple has at least 1 million in savings? Or will the couple be making monthly payments?
 
C

cartographer

Member
Arrogant Bastard said:
Do you disagree or are you just here to be glib?



You must have missed the part where she is hopeful this will re-launch her career, I'm pretty sure it will since she is being vindicated.
Click to expand...
It's arguable she didn't get enough from them. If you think more should share the legal blame, then maybe should sue more to make up the difference.
 
K

Kayhan

Member
Perhaps this can be a little wake-up call for those in favor of public shaming.

Sometimes things aren't as they first appear.
 
C

Cat Party

Member
Erv said:
Does anyone know how this works as far as paying. Do they check if the couple has at least 1 million in savings? Or will the couple be making monthly payments?
Click to expand...
The couple will probably declare bankruptcy and then the one million dollar judgment will disappear.
 
T

tbm24

Member
I get the allure of a professional photographer. Me and my wife didn’t want to pay thousands for one so instead we just set up a wedpics page, invited the invitees and have a trove of great photos from the wedding.
 
V

Vyrance

Member
Arrogant Bastard said:
Yep, to be clear, I'm not saying that this couple shouldn't be held responsible. The problem is, as with all civil cases it is to what percent. There was a great deal of BS around: the couple, social media horde, and the local news. I think dropping a $1 million penalty solely against the couple is a bit excessive.
Click to expand...

I agree. I find it pretty crazy that the local news didn't seem to even bother asking the wedding photographer for her side of the story.
 
S

SteveWD40

Member
Court awarding damages does not always = cash hitting your bank. Is it not the case that Jordan Belfort still owes $Millions in damages and keeps finding ways not to pay?

I would be surprised if the photographer gets $1M in her lifetime.
 
Trojita

Trojita

Rapid Response Threadmaker
In this case $1 million doesn't seem to be enough. The news station should also be sued, not because they covered the story and were duped by the Moldovans, but because they ignored e-mails from the photographer before the station aired their first piece AND didn't even try to get her side of the story. That's negligence that costs this innocent woman her business.
 
A

Arrogant Bastard

Banned
Rorschach said:
They ruined several people's livelihood. I think they lowballed.
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Guys I think you are missing the point or intentionally ignoring it.

I'm not saying the couple isn't responsible, I just think footing them a $1 million blame is excessive. Especially so, if you aren't going to hold anyone else accountable at all. The local news is really what caught this on fire and they didn't do any due diligence before they took this story to air. They disregarded the emails from the photographer that showed that the story was bogus, it provided the contracts that proved it was BS. They went to air anyways and that is what ruined this business, sure they put out a correction days later but as the photographer said, the damage was done.
 
TheMan

TheMan

Member
One thing that's become obvious as I get older- everyone's a fucking liar. The news station is also at fault for not doing their due diligence before they ran the story, that's shitty journalism.
 
I

inner-G

Banned
Good.

Wrongfully shaming people and lying like that to damage a business is criminal, so they should be sued. People undervalue photographers anyway

Arrogant Bastard said:
I'm not saying the couple isn't responsible, I just think footing them a $1 million blame is excessive.
Click to expand...
Not really. They're not suing for the cost of photography but rather the future business impacts of lying about a business on the news
 
Zoe

Zoe

Member
Arrogant Bastard said:
Guys I think you are missing the point or intentionally ignoring it.

I'm not saying the couple isn't responsible, I just think footing them a $1 million blame is excessive. Especially so, if you aren't going to hold anyone else accountable at all. The local news is really what caught this on fire and they didn't do any due diligence before they took this story to air. They disregarded the emails from the photographer that showed that the story was bogus, it provided the contracts that proved it was BS. They went to air anyways and that is what ruined this business, sure they put out a correction days later but as the photographer said, the damage was done.
Click to expand...

A million is hardly enough to cover the loss of a business.

While the news organization does share some of the blame, this couple started their campaign against the photographer before the story ever aired. As a blogger, they were in the perfect position to rile up the internet mob.

Perfect world, this million would stick and the photographer would seek additional damages from the news.
 
Trojita

Trojita

Rapid Response Threadmaker
Arrogant Bastard said:
Guys I think you are missing the point or intentionally ignoring it.

I'm not saying the couple isn't responsible, I just think footing them a $1 million blame is excessive. Especially so, if you aren't going to hold anyone else accountable at all. The local news is really what caught this on fire and they didn't do any due diligence before they took this story to air. They disregarded the emails from the photographer that showed that the story was bogus, it provided the contracts that proved it was BS. They went to air anyways and that is what ruined this business, sure they put out a correction days later but as the photographer said, the damage was done.
Click to expand...

"Hey, maybe we should stop fucking lying when a news station gets involved and is in our fucking house"

How did they think this shit was going to end up?
 
K

Koomaster

Member
Yeah if you've already paid thousands for photographs, paying the extra $150 that you knew about upfront should not have been breaking the bank. Really though the photographer should have just requested that $150 before taking the pictures. Not sure why they set this fee up to be charged later? But then I know nothing of the photography business.

News station should also be held partially responsible. Maybe she can sue them next. Very irresponsible.
 
K

kmfdmpig

Member
For those who say $1M is not enough. It's unlikely that the couple will be able to pay that, so $1M, $100M, or $5 trillion don't really make a difference as the couple will be extremely unlikely to pay even the $1M.
 
Zoe

Zoe

Member
Koomaster said:
Yeah if you've already paid thousands for photographs, paying the extra $150 that you knew about upfront should not have been breaking the bank. Really though the photographer should have just requested that $150 before taking the pictures. Not sure why they set this fee up to be charged later? But then I know nothing of the photography business.
Click to expand...

And then Neely Moldovan began asking when she could have high-resolution versions of the photos.

Polito said her studio, like many, withholds high-res images until the entire wedding package is completed, culminating in the delivery of a custom wedding album, usually months after the wedding.

Otherwise, Polito said, ”photographers will hand over the images and the bride disappears."

Her studio explained as much to Neely Moldovan, she said, and asked her to fill out a form with her album options.

But November and December went by. Then New Year's.

One week into 2015, the newlywed told her Twitter followers about the travails of choosing her photos.

broke down and chose our wedding album photos...80 out of 4000 yeah that was like sophies choice

— Neely Moldovan (@Neelykins) January 8, 2015​

”I'm finally getting around to filling this out," she wrote to the studio the same day. ”Do we pay extra for a cover?"

Yes, she did. Having already paid the studio thousands, Moldovan was not happy about this.

”She basically didn't read her paperwork or contract," Polito said. ”She just couldn't understand why she couldn't have her high-res images. It's in bold in our contract."
Click to expand...

.
 
G

God Dayumm

Banned
kmfdmpig said:
For those who say $1M is not enough. It's unlikely that the couple will be able to pay that, so $1M, $100M, or $5 trillion don't really make a difference as the couple will be extremely unlikely to pay even the $1M.
Click to expand...

I wonder if they can subtract 50% or more from their paychecks for the following years.
 
I

ItIsOkBro

Member
this moldovan woman seems to have directly profited/benefited from the frenzy they kicked up by plugging her beauty blog as well
 
G

Griss

Member
"I'd love to be your wedding photographer, what do you do."
"I'm a beauty blogger."

This is where the alarm sounds should have started going off. Professional beauty blogger + wedding = nothing good.

NBC in our house no big deal
Click to expand...

Man, fuck these people lol. They were probably using this to drive people to her blog.

The award seems reasonable if the business was turning over 200k a year or whatnot. Wonder what they'll actually get out of the couple, probably next to nothing.

Funny thing is that now they'll never be able to think about their wedding or view their photographs without a reminder of their own idiocy and how they bankrupted themselves over $150.
 
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