Annie Leibovitz Sued over Exorbitant Debt

On July 29, the Art Capital Group sued photographer Annie Leibovitz in the New York State Supreme Court, exposing her financial woes to the world. The lending group claimed that Leibovitz was significantly behind on her payments and called for permission to start selling Leibovitz's many properties in New York for the satisfaction of her $24 million debt.

Because of Leibovitz's commercial popularity and unwavering position at the apex of the art world, the photographer had one of the highest yearly incomes in the industry. Vanity Fair reportedly pays the photographer more than a million dollars yearly—a salary that is dwarfed by the profits from various private commissions, tours of her work, and her book sales.

But Leibovitz's exorbitant spending on her private shoots and real estate expenses took a toll on her liquid assets and, in 2008, the artist took out a loan from the Art Capital Group. Now, after many missing payments and a dispute between Leibovitz and the lending group over the sale of the artist's photographs to the Getty, Leibovitz may be forced to not only sell off her real estate but the rights to her iconic photographs.