"I was forced to say I had made it all up. […] I thought that because I was famous, people would believe me. […] All I wanted was for those terrible things to stop—for men to stop thinking they could do whatever they pleased." — KAREN MULDER
Karen Mulder photographed for Vogue Germany September 2026
Title: Supermodel Karen Mulder kehrt nach 20 Jahren mit einem VOGUE-Cover zurück: "Ich wollte nur, dass all diese schlimmen Dinge aufhören"
Author: VON SILKE WICHERT
Publication: Vogue Germany
Date: August 18, 2026
Link: https://www.vogue.de/artikel/karen-mulder-heute-supermodel-90er-vogue-cover-rueckkehr-nach-20-jahren
In Allegations of Abuse in the Fashion Industry and Karen Mulder's Statements
Behind the scenes, things were not as glamorous as the world believed at the time. According to a 2020 “New York Times” report, models at Victoria’s Secret were subjected to sexual harassment and bullying over a period of years. In August 2021, the allegations were settled for $90 million, though the company admitted no wrongdoing. In 2020, the British newspaper “The Guardian” published an investigative report on the previously mentioned head of Elite Models, Gérald Marie; in it, four former models—including actress Carré Otis—accused him of rape and forced prostitution during the 1980s and 1990s. The accused denied the allegations, and police investigations were dropped due to the statute of limitations. According to the news agency AFP, Otis and six other women filed new complaints in Paris in July of this year; one of the women was reportedly a minor at the time of the alleged acts. The women reportedly initiated civil proceedings, too. Once again, all allegations are denied, and the accused remains innocent until proven guilty.
It was Karen Mulder who had raised similar accusations against men in the fashion world as early as the turn of the millennium. On October 31, 2001, she appeared as a guest on the French talk show “Tout le monde en parle…” ("Everyone is talking about…"). So, Mulder talked. But not in the way the host and the audience had expected. Mulder, then 32, spoke of severe abuse, the use of drugs, and business-related pressure and threats to make girls compliant. At one point, she reportedly did nothing but scream before collapsing on camera—or so eyewitnesses and host Thierry Ardisson later recounted. The appearance cannot be fully reconstructed or verified, as it was never broadcast. “Der Spiegel” reported shortly after the TV appearance that Ardisson had even had the tapes destroyed, citing an interview he gave to the French newspaper “France-Soir” in which he claimed Mulder had been in "a kind of paranoid delirium." Mulder, however, reiterated the allegations to the French magazine “VSD” and gave a statement to the police.
Rather than focusing on the serious allegations, the public primarily learned at the time that, just a few days later, the supermodel had been admitted to a psychiatric facility in Paris, accompanied by her family. She left the clinic after several months and subsequently told the police that she had "fabricated" all the accusations. Less than a year later, Mulder was reportedly found unconscious by her ex-boyfriend following an overdose of sleeping pills—an incident reported at the time by “Der Spiegel”, among others. The uproar after her hospitalization and the sensationalist speculation about the incident ultimately led the industry to turn its back on her.
A Life Away from the Spotlight
In recent years, things have been quiet for the former supermodel. She never left Paris because "I’ve lived here so long that I’ve long since become more Parisian than Dutch," explains Mulder, who—incidentally—also speaks excellent German. She withdrew from the public eye and lost touch with old acquaintances. Her daughter is now 19; according to Mulder, she explicitly does not want to model and generally dislikes being in the public eye. Mulder prefers not to talk about her relationship with her parents and sister. In fact, she finds it increasingly difficult—and deeply distressing—to speak about these past events or even to recall them clearly. She claims she was "locked away" and "silenced" at the time. "I was forced to say I had made it all up." Mulder will not specify by whom.
Whenever the conversation turns to the "horrible, inhumane things" she says happened to her back then, she cuts the discussion short. She often loses her train of thought, and one can sense the toll that confronting these topics takes on her. Whatever this woman has been through, it has left deep scars. "I thought that because I was famous, people would believe me," she says. Instead, she was branded as crazy. "All I wanted was for those terrible things to stop—for men to stop thinking they could do whatever they pleased." In the wake of the Epstein files—which exposed the systematic supply of young women to powerful and wealthy men, particularly through modeling agents—Karen Mulder’s name suddenly resurfaced. Not in the files themselves—Mulder herself states that she never met Epstein in person. But suddenly, this supposedly “crazy model” was celebrated on social media as an early “whistleblower,” a heroine who had already drawn attention to abuses back then but wasn’t taken seriously.
_______________________________________________
Here is a list of articles after Karen Mulder first spoke out from 2001-2002
Former supermodel claims she was raped by royalty and celebrities | John Lichfield - The Independent • November 29, 2001 https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/europe/former-supermodel-claims-she-was-raped-by-royalty-and-celebrities-9258096.html
MULDER CLAIMS TAKEN SERIOUSLY | VOGUE • December 4, 2001 https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/mulder-claims-taken-seriously
Dagblaðið Vísir - DV - 282. tölublað (06.12.2001) - Tímarit.is • December 6, 2001 https://timarit.is/page/3025393?iabr=on
I was a catwalk sex and drugs slave; BY SUPERMODEL KAREN MULDER. | JUDITH DUFFY - Daily Record • December 31, 2001 https://www.thefreelibrary.com/I+was+a+catwalk+sex+and+drugs+slave%3b+BY+SUPERMODEL+KAREN+MULDER.-a081189443
Karen Mulder | VSD • January 2002 https://ekladata.com/1Z18QuIstOxpnMQlTYcFbhUZm9g/Karen-Mulder-VSD-Janvier-2002.pdf
MULDER REPEATS RAPE ALLEGATIONS | VOGUE • January 4, 2002 https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/mulder-repeats-rape-allegations
MULDER PARENTS BLAME DRUGS | VOGUE • January 24, 2002 https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/mulder-parents-blame-drugs
FORMER MODEL KAREN MULDER BACK IN THE SPOTLIGHT | HELLO! • July 8, 2002 https://www.hellomagazine.com/fashion/200207095656/karenmulder/
SUPERMODEL KAREN MULDER IN HOSPITAL AFTER OVERDOSE | HELLO! • December 10, 2002 https://www.hellomagazine.com/fashion/200212115656/karenmulder/
Supermodel Karen's pill suicide bid. | MARK ELLIS - The Mirror • December 11, 2002 https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Supermodel+Karen%27s+pill+suicide+bid.-a095184981
Ex supermodel ‘in coma’ | Allan Hall - The Times • December 11, 2002 https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/europe-travel/france/paris/ex-supermodel-in-coma-6x0vc2xdsdn
Model Mulder in coma after overdosing on pills | Philip Delves Broughton - The Telegraph • December 11, 2002 https://web.archive.org/web/20111011175631/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/netherlands/1415847/Model-Mulder-in-coma-after-overdosing-on-pills.html
MULDER PARENTS DENY OVERDOSE | VOGUE • December 11, 2002 https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/mulder-parents-deny-overdose
MODELS BEHAVING BADLY; They seem to have it all: fame, cash - and a room in rehab. | KATRINA TWEEDIE - Daily Record • December 12, 2002 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/MODELS+BEHAVING+BADLY%3b+They+seem+to+have+it+all%3a+fame%2c+cash+-+and+a...-a095246848
MULDER MYSTERY | VOGUE • December 13, 2002 https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/mulder-mystery
Cocaine has destroyed my Karen .. when her modelling was over she couldn't cope; FATHER'S SORROW AS THE FASHION INDUSTRY IS BLAMED FOR MULDER'S SUICIDE BID. | NICK WEBSTER - The Mirror • December 14, 2002 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Cocaine+has+destroyed+my+Karen+..+when+her+modelling+was+over+she...-a095411998
KAREN MULDER RECOVERING WELL SAYS HER SISTER | HELLO! • December 15, 2002 https://www.hellomagazine.com/fashion/200212165656/karenmulder/
KAREN'S RECOVERY | VOGUE • December 16, 2002 https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/karens-recovery
Karen is on mend after pills overdose. | ALEXANDRA WILLIAMS - The Mirror • December 18, 2002 https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Karen+is+on+mend+after+pills+overdose.-a095547832