Deadbeat Island
WWD has gotten to the bottom of that lawsuit filed by Condé Nast against the Turks and Caicos last Friday. It seems the archipelago paid for a bunch of ads in a handful of Condé titles in 2007 and 2008, but then never paid its $1 million tab. It also seems the ads played a role in a corruption scandal earlier this year:
The ads in question were already controversial in Turks and Caicos, which had been seeking to raise its profile as a high-end Caribbean destination. The campaign starred then-first lady LisaRaye McCoy-Misick, an American and former television actress who this year testified in a British government inquiry that she was paid $300,000 a month to appear in and art direct the ads.
Sounds pretty sordid. Although, in all fairness, you've got to admit that the tourism board ads were a big step up from some of McCoy-Misick's other magazine appearances.
Condé Nast Sues an Archipelago [WWD]
Previously: Condé Nast's New Business Model—Revealed! [Cityfile]