Sage Humphries (born October 3, 1997) is an American model, singer-songwriter, and dancer with the Boston Ballet.[1]

Ballet

Humphries started ballet at age four in Orange County, California.[2]

At age 12, Humphries attended the School of American Ballet Summer Course in New York for the first time[2] and returned the following two summers.[3] At 14, she trained under Dmitri Kulev in Orange County.[2]

In 2012, Humphries received positive reviews of her performances in Giselle and The Sleeping Beauty at the Carreno Dance Festival in Sarasota, Florida.[4]

While preparing for the Youth America Grand Prix competition, Humphries appeared in the Dance School Diaries docuseries.[3]

In 2015, she was a Denver Youth Grand Prix winner at the Youth American Grand Prix Denver Semi-Finals. That summer, she attended the American Ballet Theatre in New York on full scholarship, where she trained with Ariel Serrano and Ramona De Saa, director of the Cuban National Ballet School.[2][5] While training with Kulev, Humphries received full merit scholarships to Semperoper Ballett, Ballet Munich, American Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, and Ballet West.[2]

Humphries joined Boston Ballet II in 2016 and was promoted to artist in the Company in 2017.[2] She debuted her choreography in 2018 with the BB@home: ChoreograpHER program.[5] In 2019, she choreographed dances for the Boston Calling Music Festival,[6] as well as the BB@home ChoreograpHER program.[5][7][8]

Modeling

Humphries has shot dozens of covers and magazines, including Vogue Italia,[9] V magazine, Lucky magazine, Interview magazine, As if magazine, Glitter Magazine, Just Cavalli, Where Boston, Footwear News, Teen Vogue, and W magazine.[10] She is also a brand ambassador for Capezio and Bloch.[10]

At nine years old, Humphries signed with Zuri Models and Talent, through which she modeled for stores, including Target, Kohl's, and Pottery Barn.[10]

At age 14, she signed with Ford Models, where she worked a worldwide campaign with Abercrombie and Fitch[11] and worked with Bruce Weber, as well as a David's Bridal campaign.[10] The following year, Humphries modeled for Vogue Italia, where she worked with Michel Comte. This opportunity led to her walking in New York Fashion Week in February 2014. In the winter of 2015, she returned to New York and lived in the Ford Model apartments, worked, and continued training as a dancer.

Humphries signed with LA and NY Models in 2017.[12]

Sexual assault case

In July 2021, Humphries, along with Gina Menichino, filed a complaint against Mitchell Taylor Button, husband of former Boston Ballet dancer Dusty Button, accusing him of sexually abusing her.[13][14] Humphries was in an apprentice program with the Boston Ballet in 2016 when the couple allegedly "sexually and verbally abused her, forced her to live with them and isolated her from her family."[15]

In September 2021, the federal complaint was updated, accusing the Buttons of sex trafficking and sexual abuse of seven dancers, including a minor, age 11,[14][15] between 2007 and 2021.[16] The plaintiffs include Humphries and Menichino, as well as Rosie DeAngelo and Dani X.[3] The complaint states, "This is a case about a couple who exploited their position of power and influence in the dance world to sexually abuse young dancers across the country."[17]

In 2022, court documents included claims of federal sex trafficking and forced labor violations against both Dusty and Taylor Button, as well as separate accusations about Taylor Button for assault, battery, false imprisonment, and sexual exploitation of a minor.[16] The Buttons' lawyer, Marc Randazza, filed a motion to dismiss the case, denying any wrongdoing.[18]

On July 8, 2022,[19] Randazza "filed a third-party counterclaim in U.S. District Court in Nevada," in which they claimed having been in a consensual, "loving and supportive" relationship with Humphries.[20] The counterclaim also includes a U.S. civil suit was filed against the Edmonton Oilers' owner, Daryl Katz, alleging he paid Humphries $75,000 for sexual favors.[20] Katz was 53 at the time; Humphries was 17. In the counterclaim, Randazza wrote, "To the extent that Sage Humphries claims she was abused and sex trafficked, the Buttons agree — however, this abuse and trafficking was not at their hands, but at the hands of a series of older men."[21] Randazza further claimed, "Humphries was literally a child prostitute to a billionaire, and her mother assisted her in laundering the money she was paid and in trafficking her to Katz."[21]

Katz's lawyer, Robert Klieger, has denied the claims of sexual misconduct but admits Katz and Humphries had met in 2016 regarding Humphries's film project.[20] Katz has confirmed he arranged to pay $75,000 toward her film.[20] Key evidence against Katz involves screenshots of text conversations between Humphries and Katz, but the authenticity of the texts remains in question.[20] The alleged text messages do not contain sexually explicit content but show a desire for secrecy.[21] According to Humphries's claims, the texts would have been received while Taylor Button had control of her phone.[20]

Humphries's lawyer, Sigrid McCawley, denied the claim against Katz[19] and referred to the counterclaim against Katz as a "meaningless sideshow" to distract from the Button case.[20] Less than a month later, in August 2022, the couple voluntarily withdrew their claims against Katz after being provided with reliable evidence to the contrary;[22] their lawyer issued an apology and requested that the court strike all relevant references from the record.[23]

References

  1. ↑ "LA Creator: Sage Humphries". Junk Food Clothing. 2018-11-20. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Sage Humphries | Artist". Boston Ballet. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 Kiefer, Elizabeth M. (2022-04-05). "Four Dancers in a Bombshell Sexual Abuse Lawsuit Speak Out Together for the First Time". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  4. ↑ Seldman, Carrie (August 25, 2012). "REVIEW: A few stars missing from the Carreño "Festival of Stars"". Herald Tribune. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  5. 1 2 3 "Dance". SAGE. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  6. ↑ Hope, Helen (2019-05-23). "What Happens When a Ballerina Choreographs for a Music Festival". Dance Spirit. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  7. ↑ Basco, Sharon (October 25, 2019). "In 'BB@home: ChoreograpHER,' The Women Of The Boston Ballet Show Ingenuity And Talent". WBUR News. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  8. ↑ Campbell, Karen (2019-09-30). "2019 Stars of the Corps: Boston Ballet's Sage Humphries". Pointe Magazine. Retrieved 2023-07-29.
  9. ↑ Scalia, Lella (2015-02-18). "Giorgio Armani. 40 years of a successful story. 1975-2015". Vogue Italia (in Italian). Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Modeling". SAGE. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  11. ↑ "The Sitch on Fitch: Models Profiled! | Sage Nicole Humphries..." The Sitch on Fitch. 2013-11-04. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  12. ↑ "Sage Humphries". LA Models. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  13. ↑ Mason, Amelia (July 30, 2021). "Former Boston Ballet Dancer And Husband Accused Of Sexual Assault In Lawsuit". WBUR. Retrieved 2021-12-20.
  14. 1 2 Alonso, Melissa (2021-09-30). "Former Boston Ballerina Dusty Button And Husband Accused Of Sexually Abusing Young Dancers". CBS Boston. Retrieved 2021-12-20.
  15. 1 2 Jacobs, Julia (2021-07-29). "Former Dance Instructor Accused of Sexual Assault in Lawsuit". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-12-20.
  16. 1 2 Zitser, Joshua. "Young dancers suing Boston Ballet star and husband describe trauma and PTSD following alleged sexual abuse at hands of famous couple, Cosmopolitan reports". Insider. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  17. ↑ Li, David K. (September 30, 2021). "Lawsuit accuses former Boston Ballet star and her husband of sexually abusing dancers". NBC News. Retrieved 2021-12-20.
  18. ↑ Kiefer, Elizabeth M. (2022-04-05). "Four Dancers in a Bombshell Sexual Abuse Lawsuit Speak Out Together for the First Time". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  19. 1 2 Wakefield, Jonny (2022-07-21). "Billionaire Oilers owner Daryl Katz, ballet dancer deny he paid her for sex". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Gatehouse, Jonathon; Leung, Albert (2022-07-21). "Civil suit accuses Edmonton Oilers owner of paying teenage ballerina for sex". CBC News. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  21. 1 2 3 Li, David K.; DeFrank, Polly (2022-07-21). "NHL team owner denies he paid underaged dancer for sex, latest accusation in Boston Ballet legal drama". MSN. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  22. ↑ Heidenreich, Phil. "Allegations involving Edmonton Oilers owner and ballerina withdrawn". Global News Canada. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  23. ↑ "Claims against Edmonton Oilers owner Daryl Katz withdrawn". Sportsnet. August 8, 2022.
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