Kendall Jenner Faces $1.8M Lawsuit For Alleged Breach Of Modeling Contract

A legal complaint has been filed against Kendall Jenner in a New York City court accusing the model of breach of contract after she failed to appear for a photoshoot.

Italian Fashion House Liu Jo lodged a complaint against the "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" star Monday after she failed to appear at the second of two planned photoshoots, which was supposed to take place in London in March last year, E! News reported. The company is seeking at least $1.8 million in damages.

The deal had required Jenner to appear for two photo shoots – one for Liu Jo's Spring/Summer 2020 campaign and the second for its Fall/Winter 2020 campaign. Jenner failed to appear for the second schedule coronavirus-related restrictions.

Jenner was the world's highest-paid model in 2018, with $22.5 million in annual earnings, according to Forbes.

The contract with the Italian clothing company promised to provide Jenner a total of $1.5 million for the two photoshoots, along with a 20% service fee.

Liu Jo said in the lawsuit that the 25-year-old star finished the first shoot in July 2019 and the company had already paid a total of $1.35 million to Jenner by February.

The lawsuit said Liu Jo had reached an agreement with Jenner's model management agency, The Society Management, to postpone the second shoot to the fall but the latter did not confirm a new date. The fashion house alleged that Jenner eventually "ceased responding to Liu Jo" until the company "informed her that it considered her in breach of the contract and that, therefore, the contract was terminated." The company filed the complaint after "having no success in obtaining a refund" the supermodel owed, according to court documents obtained by E! News.

The Society Management denied the accusations.

"The suit is without merit. The Society Management, on behalf of Ms. Kendall Jenner, has continually offered Liu Jo alternative dates and locations to fulfill an agreement that was forced to be delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic," the agency told TMZ, adding that Kendall "has willingly offered to complete services honoring her commitments."

In the lawsuit, Liu Jo claimed that Jenner had proposed to postpone the shoot to October after the company learned that the model would be going to Italy to shoot for another designer in September.

The complaint included a link to a Metro U.K. article that showed photos of the model arriving for a Versace photoshoot the same month. Kendall appeared in the luxury brand's ads this year.

After Kendall allegedly "continued to fail to respond to urgent requests and communications relating to the logistics" of the proposed mid-October photoshoot, Liu Jo told the star that "she was in breach of her obligations under the agreement."

Two days later, Kendall told the fashion corporation she was not in breach of the deal and that it was "impossible" for her to travel to Italy that fall, according to the complaint.

"Due to Ms. Jenner's refusal to negotiate in good faith, Liu Jo was forced to find replacement models and restructure its entire Spring/Summer 2021 photoshoot [sic]— at great expense to Liu Jo, due to Ms. Jenner's refusal to uphold her end of the bargain," the lawsuit said.