Kate Moss’ multimillion-dollar career as a supermodel took a super-dive yesterday, when she was dumped from her $2 million job as the face of the H&M clothing chain – after shocking photos showed the drug-plagued beauty snorting cocaine.
“H&M distances itself strongly from drugs – the campaign with Kate Moss is not compatible with H&M’s clear rejection of drugs,” the company said just two days after insisting it would stick with her.
It cited Moss’ written agreement to remain “healthy, wholesome and sound,” in accordance with H&M’s guidelines for its models.
It’s a huge financial hit for Moss, who was reportedly paid more than $2 million to hawk a new line of H&M fashions designed by Stella McCartney beginning in November.
And it could spell trouble for the 31-year-old catwalk queen’s other endorsements, which are said to earn her more than $7 million a year.
Burberry, Chanel, Dior and Yves Saint Laurent – who all employ Moss – refused to say yesterday whether they’ll follow H&M’s lead.
But Rimmel, which is owned by Cody and sells makeup to teens, and jeweler H. Stern, are sticking by her for now.
Jon Bond of ad agency Kirschenbaum Bond said that could be risky for Rimmel.
“They should drop her. Drugs and kids – people are going to get upset,” Bond said.
Other industry insiders say the rail-thin stunner may see her endorsement deals drying up – which could add up to losses of tens of millions in future earnings.
“Kate Moss has become a clichéd supermodel train wreck. H&M was totally justified in canning her,” said Linda Mann, president of Mann Media, a Manhattan p.r. firm.
“Her past rehab stints and her recent lifestyle choices have made her a real liability in the high-stakes world of celebrity corporate endorsements.”
Last week, London’s Daily Mirror printed graphic images of Moss cutting lines of cocaine and snorting them through a rolled-up banknote at a recording session for her druggie rocker boyfriend, Pete Doherty, who was caught in Norway last month with heroin and crack cocaine.
A few days later, the News of the World ran a front-page story claiming Moss had engaged in a three-way lesbian orgy as well as enjoying a threesome with bed-hopping actor Jude Law and his then-wife Sadie Frost.
Moss has now ‘fessed up to having snorted the coke and broken up with Doherty. She is said to be seeking help from a treatment facility.
Moss’ fame grew in the ’90s in Calvin Klein ads that brought back the “waif” look popularized by Twiggy in the 1960s and fueled the catch-phrase “heroin chic.”
But despite a huge salary and romances with stars like Johnny Depp, Moss had highly publicized bouts with cocaine and booze. Three years ago, she became a mom with the birth of daughter Lila Grace.