Leibovitz faces new lawsuit over debt

Photographer Annie Leibovitz is facing new accusations of balking at bills, less than a month after she struck a deal intended to resolve her financial problems.

At risk are her rights to some of pop culture's most famous images.

Investment firm Brunswick Capital Partners LP said in a lawsuit filed Friday that Leibovitz owes more than $800,000 US in fees for its help arranging her recent financing agreement with another firm, Colony Capital LLC. Through a spokesman, Leibovitz declined to comment Monday.

New York-based Brunswick said it "made exhaustive efforts" to link Leibovitz with investors who could help her out of a financial hole that had threatened to cost her control of her life's work.

During her 40-year career, Leibovitz has photographed figures ranging from Bruce Springsteen to Queen Elizabeth. Sometimes theatrical, often provocative, her work includes such famous images as a nude, pregnant Demi Moore and a nude John Lennon cuddling with a clothed Yoko Ono hours before his death.

Designated a living legend by the Library of Congress, Leibovitz  made but mismanaged a fortune. By last summer, she was struggling to repay a $24 million US loan, with her three historic Manhattan townhouses and the copyright to all her pictures on the line.

"As a result of its diligent efforts, Brunswick Capital successfully found several interested and viable investors" — including Colony, according to the lawsuit, filed in a Manhattan state court . 

Santa Monica, Calif.-based Colony agreed last month to help manage Leibovitz's debt and market her portfolio. She retained total control of her work in the deal, which Brunswick Capital says is worth more than $40 million US. Colony declined to comment.