Instagram shuts down US celebrity photographer’s account for violating sexual solicitation policy

Celebrity photographer Marcus Hyde (right) in a photo posted by Kim Kardashian on June 27. — Instagram

Social media platform Instagram has disabled two accounts belonging to celebrity photographer Marcus Hyde after he was accused of sexual misconduct.

A spokesperson confirmed to Buzzfeed News that Hyde's accounts – namely @marcushyde which has one million followers and @marcushyde_2 with around 18,000 followers – have been shut down for violating its sexual solicitation policy.

Facebook's community standards on sexual solicitation forbids users from offering or asking for nude images. Instagram is owned by Facebook.

On July 22, model Sunnaya Nash revealed that she had approached Hyde for a photo shoot by messaging him on Instagram. Hyde responded by saying the session will cost US$2,000 (RM8,232). He also said he would agree to a free shoot if Nash can provide him with nude photos of herself.

After Nash refused, Hyde responded by saying "gotta see if your (sic) worth it" and then told her to engage another photographer if she insisted on not sending him any nude images. He also said: "I'll keep shooting celebs."

Nash later shared screen shots of their conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #CancelMarcusHyde. The model claimed that other women came forward with allegations about Hyde as well after she made her experience public. She shared anonymous messages from other users detailing how Hyde had behaved inappropriately with them. 

One woman alleged that Hyde never released images from their photo shoot because she refused to engage in any sexual activity with him. Another woman claimed that Hyde posted nude images of her onto his Instagram account without her consent. When she asked Hyde to remove it, he replied saying it's not a big deal because other women had let him post such images.