Photographer Tyler Shields came under fire last week when he published a series of photos of Glee actress Heather Morris that he titled Even Barbie Bruises.
The controversial photos have critics outraged by Shields’ overt glamorization of domestic abuse.
One photo shows the actress, who plays ditzy cheerleader Brittany on Glee, with a faux black eye. Another features a smiling Morris drinking water from the steam iron. A third shows her own arms tied-up by the iron’s cord.
Shields claims his goal was never to promote abuse, “A lot of people have been sending me death threats because they are angry I am promoting violence, which was never the case.”
This is not the first Shields images that have been criticized. Last year he photographed Lindsay Lohan holding a gun to her own mouth.
He has since apologized for the Morris photos and plans to sell some of them and give all the proceeds to an anti-domestic violence campaign. The auction is scheduled to take place in October.
Check out the controversial pics and a video short, uploaded by Shields, featuring Heather Morris moving around a pole and rolling across the floor:
Phot0s: Video Grabs, Tyler Shields