Crossing the Blues

Lara Stone's Ad Banned in Australia for Promoting 'Violence and Rape'


Supermodel Lara Stone is at the center of a storm in Australia after officials banned her latest Calvin Klein advert over allegations the photographs promote "violence and rape". The Dutch beauty, who is married to British funnyman David Walliams, is pictured in her underwear lying among a group of men, with one male model straddling her suggestively while another pulls her hair.

The promo has drawn a number of complaints since it was plastered over billboards in Australia and now officials at the country's Advertising Standards Bureau have branded the ads "demeaning to women" and ruled the campaign must be scrapped.

A statement from the organization reads, "The Board considered that whilst the act depicted could be consensual, the overall impact and most likely takeout is that the scene is suggestive of violence and rape. The Board considered that the image was demeaning to women by suggesting that she is a plaything of these men. It also demeans men by implying sexualised violence against women."