Ghanaian model and CEO of TM Management, Idris Prince Ibrahim, has said he does not demand sex from female models before offering them jobs.
His modelling agency, he revealed, has been operating under strict and professional rules and doesn’t cross the lines of giving models raw deal.
He said his agency respects talent and doesn’t dabble in negative activities that will bring the company and his reputation to disrepute.
“Anyone who knows how TM started will know I don’t do stuff like that. Also, we go beyond that because we are looking for true talents. I know people say sex exists everywhere and not only in our industry. It happens everywhere but we at TM don’t promote that. We stand for quality. We don’t do that because we know what we stand for,” he told NEWS-ONE.
Prince’s claim follows recent reports that Ghana’s modelling industry is not growing as compared to other modelling industries out there because “some models have been selling themselves very cheap” by allegedly accepting sexual offers before they are given modelling jobs.
“Sex for job exists in our industry. It does. It is everywhere. Because if you won’t do it, other girls will do it. It does exist in the modelling industry, not just some other industries,” Aisha Med, a Ghanaian international model who is currently signed to a Romanian-based modelling agency called MRA, told NEWS-ONE last week.
“Yes, I have had an encounter like that and I had to just go home because I didn’t want to do that and I was in a relationship as well. I didn’t do it not just because I was in a relationship but I don’t see myself sleeping with somebody because I wanted a modelling job,” she added.
But, Prince has reiterated that he doesn’t do that.
“Sex is no no for me. I don’t have sex with anyone I work with. I don’t believe in that. Once you start that with anyone you work with, your brand is not going to last. You are not going to go far. I have never exchanged sex for work,” he added.
Prince’s agency has been around for a while now and is recognised as one of the busiest modelling agencies around. Its models just returned from Lagos Fashion Week in Nigeria. Prince himself has been a professional model since 2009 after he trained at the Exopa Modelling Agency.
He comes from the Northern Region of Ghana and a Dagomba by tribe. He hopes to help raise standards in Ghana’s modelling industry.