Mickalene Thomas (left) and Racquel Chevremont (right) at the 2021 Guggenheim International Gala on November 17, 2021 (photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
A lawsuit filed in New York State Supreme Court today, October 27, details allegations of physical assault, emotional abuse, and financial manipulation against artist Mickalene Thomas by her former fiancée and business partner, the model and art advisor Racquel Chevremont.
Expanding on Chevremont’s initial complaint from August, in which she stated her intent to sue Thomas for alleged harassment and nonpayment, the new court filings reviewed by Hyperallergic include a previously undisclosed claim that Thomas physically assaulted her in October 2020.
The lawsuit also accuses Thomas of withholding millions of dollars in wages, bonuses, and other agreed-upon compensation over the course of their 10-year working relationship. Chevremont is seeking at least $14.2 million in damages, excluding interest, counsel fees, and other amounts to be determined at trial. The bulk of the total stems from compensatory damages for alleged sexual harassment and a hostile work environment ($5 million), along with an unjust enrichment claim accusing Thomas of capitalizing on Chevremont’s image and labor ($4 million).
A spokesperson for Thomas reached via her public relations team, Karla Otto, denied the allegations in a statement sent to Hyperallergic.
“Mickalene is a world-renowned artist who is the sole author and architect of her decades-long success. The allegations made by her ex-girlfriend are completely false and a desperate attempt to remain relevant and profit off Mickalene’s hard-earned reputation, career achievements, and legacy,” the spokesperson said. “We will deal with this frivolous and petty exploitation in court.”
Chevremont met Thomas in 2002, when the artist was completing a residency at the Studio Museum in Harlem, where Chevremont was on the acquisitions committee. They started dating in 2011 and began working together the following year. The court filing paints a picture of Chevremont as instrumental to Thomas’s rise in this early period of her career. She used her fashion connections to support Thomas’s work on editorial photography for brands like Absolut Vodka, campaigns that sometimes featured Chevremont as a model, the filings say.
The pair formalized their professional relationship in 2015, when the collector Jean-Pierre Lehmann commissioned Thomas to create a painting based on a photograph of Chevremont from one of their first collaborative shoots. As a result of the model’s concerns over the use of her image, Thomas and Chevremont established a limited liability company that gave each party a 50% interest in any works created as part of the business — including the photo of Chevremont that would inspire “Racquel Reclined Wearing Purple Jumpsuit” (2016).
That work, which portrays Chevremont in a shimmering violet ensemble on a deconstructed sofa rendered in Thomas’s characteristic collage of paint, silkscreen, and glitter, sold for $1.8 million at Christie’s in 2021.
According to court filings, Thomas agreed to pay Chevremont a portion of the proceeds from sales of any works derived from such “collaborative” images, and thus priced these works at a 25–35% premium. But Chevremont did not receive these payments, the lawsuit claims, one of multiple allegations that Thomas denied her agreed-upon compensation, such as a $2 million bonus for a deal Chevremont helped broker with the Israeli collector Jose Mugrabi that, according to the court document, never materialized.
Chevremont alleges that Thomas was “unstable and emotionally abusive” in both their personal and work relationships. In October 2020, however, “the abuse turned physical,” the lawsuit claims. “Ms. Chevremont ended their romantic relationship after Ms. Thomas assaulted her.”
The filing provides no further detail on the nature of the assault. Chevremont’s legal representation, Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, declined to comment.
The lawsuit also includes allegations of quid pro quo sexual harassment, alleging that Thomas “persistently attempted to rekindle” their relationship, sent Chevremont unsolicited romantic messages, and threatened her with “physical violence if she were to date other women.” On one occasion, Thomas allegedly told Chevremont that she had had a video camera installed in her bedroom and would reveal intimate photos or videos if Chevremont failed to disclose details of her dating life.
In May 2022, Thomas fired Chevremont in retaliation for rejecting her advances, the lawsuit claims. The filing also accuses Thomas of pursuing a campaign to tarnish Chevremont’s reputation in the art world, disparaging her to galleries, sabotaging contracts, and telling her, in the lawsuit’s words, that “she should go back to modeling because no artist will ever work with her again.”
