Real Housewives of Atlanta Star, Cynthia Bailey is defending her name after a customer accused her company of fraud. CBS Atlanta reports her modeling school, Bailey Agency School of Fashion, is being accused of accepting payment for services that were not provided.
After seeing the agency featured on the popular Bravo network show, Grandmother Dorothy Lewis looked into it for her granddaughter, Paris.
“She’s bubbly, loves playing and she loves singing, dancing and likes modeling, very talkative,” Lewis said.
After doing some research, Lewis found the agency was hosting a photo contest for babies and kids. She says she followed the guidelines and submitted Paris’s photo to the “big kid” category for the month of January on the website along with a $20.00 entry fee.
Winners would be chosen each month and featured on the company website, The Bailey Agency School of Fashion according to the Bailey Agency promise. The only issue is that winners haven’t been updated on the site since October 2013, but the agency still continues to accept entries.
Until CBS’s investigation the website also claimed that a portion of the proceeds would be donated to Atlanta Diaper Relief, a nonprofit that shut down six months ago. The site now states that a portion of the proceeds will go to Kile’s World, the foundation started by Tameka Raymond Foster in honor of her late son. Bailey noted that she had no idea that Atlanta Diaper Relief had folded until this situation occurred.
Lewis remarked, “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.”
When questioned, Bailey responded:
“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.”
She also gave this formal statement to CBS46:
“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.”
We think Grandma Lewis is being petty and possibly an opportunist, but Cynthia is too big of a celebrity to not have her site updated on the regular. Seems like business management continues to be a challenge for the ladies of RHOA.
