Another day, another reality star accused of fraud!
This time… it’s Cynthia Bailey of? who’s on the hot seat.
The Bailey Agency School of Fashion, Cynthia’s Modeling school, has been featured on the show many times and you may recall, Kenya Moore’s drama filled introduction to RHOA as a judge in one of their model calls.
A woman by the name of Dorothy Lewis has accused Bailey’s agency of dropping the ball on one of the kiddie model searches.
Lewis entered her 7 year old grand daughter, Paris Davis, into The Bailey Agency’s contest for babies & kids and she even paid a $20 entry fee to enter Paris into the “big kid” category for the month of January 2014.
Here’s where it gets sketchy… The Bailey Agency hasn’t updated the winners since October 2013, but the site has continued to collect money.
CBS news inquired about the situation and recently sat down with Cynthia who responded to the allegations.
Details + watch Bailey’s interview below…
Bailey set the record straight with CBS News Atlanta after a customer accused her agency of fraud.
The complaint? Her company is accepting money for services but the company isn’t keeping up its end of the bargain.
Cynthia Bailey has graced the covers of magazines. Each week, you can find the supermodel on Bravo’s Real Housewives of Atlanta. Her company, the Bailey Agency School of Fashion, has been featured on the show and it helps hook aspiring models.
Lewis paid $20 to enter Paris into the “big kid” category for the month of January.
The Bailey Agency promise? Each month a winner will be chosen in each category with the winners featured on TheBaileyAgencySchoolofFashion.com.
“To me it’s like playing the lottery. Your chances are slim but what if? That would be exciting if you win,” Lewis said.
The problem? The Bailey Agency hasn’t updated the winners since October 2013, but the site has continued to collect money.
“It’s just not right to be advertising that you’re going to do one thing and take people’s money from around the country and you’re not following through on what you’re saying,” Lewis said.
Prior to CBS46’s inquiry into the situation Bailey’s website stated “a portion of the proceeds … will be donated to the Atlanta Diaper Relief.”
However CBS discovered that the nonprofit folded six months ago!? It’s starting to become evident that ‘housewives’ and ‘charities’ don’t mix.
[FLASHBACK: Nene Leakes Apologizes for ‘Short Speech + Kenya Moore’s Charitable Lie Revealed... ]
Lewis accused The Bailey Agency of false advertising and Jennifer Mayerle of CBS46 took the concerns to Bailey.
“We didn’t even realize it folded until we reached out to her to let her know we were going to be changing it over,” Bailey said.
The agency now gives a portion of the proceeds to Kile’s World, the foundation started by Tameka Raymond in honor of her late son.
As for the contest, $1,580 was collected in entry fees from 79 entries and the winners weren’t being updated.
Reporter Jennifer Mayerle asked Bailey about the funds, to which Bailey replied:
First of all I think that’s a very negative approach to the whole situation, that’s not like their $20 wasn’t being used for what it was intended for.
It’s just a matter of us being in transition on our side and we were just behind on the website. But now it’s updated.
Since the CBS inquiry, the agency has updated their website to reflect the new charity and has also updated the contest winners.
Bailey said she will be more diligent about the contest in the future and will issue a refund to anyone who is unhappy about the way it was handled.
Bailey also gave CBS46 the following statement:
The program is not revenue driven. The Bailey Babies Contest was created in the spirit of giving moms with young babies a platform to give their children exposure. This was a fun & inexpensive way to involve young babies in the school since they are obviously too young to participate in any of the other school programs that are offered. The program was also developed for the purpose of extending our brand out to people outside of the Atlanta area that support and want to be a part of The Bailey Agency.
I apologize for any negligence on my part as far as my staff not keeping the website properly updated. I hope after receiving all the correct and updated information from me personally, you can appreciate the sincerity of my intentions. I appreciate you for bringing this important matter to my attention. I can assure The Bailey Babies mommies that this will not be an issue going forward.
Thank you for providing the opportunity to address this matter.