LA Mag’s Billie Eilish Cover Shoot Shrouded in Drama
A feud that unfolded behind the scenes of a glitzy Los Angeles magazine cover story starring pop icon Billie Eilish left one photographer so aggrieved that he pulled his name from the finished product and ended his working relationship with the magazine altogether.
A source familiar with the photoshoot told The Daily Beast that the photographer, Shayan Asgharnia, wanted his name removed after the magazine gave final approval over the photographs to Eilish’s team during the session. Editor-in-chief Shirley Halperin confirmed in emails to The Daily Beast that Asgharnia did, indeed, ask for his credit to be scrapped from the December shoot as it went to press, but she said she did not know why.
Halperin said the magazine “worked closely” with Eilish and her team for the shoot “as is standard with major talent,” but she denied Eilish or her team had cover approval or creative control. A representative for Eilish also characterized the magazine cover shoot as a “unique collaboration” and a “collaborative affair,” but they said they did not get “final approval.”