A wedding photographer in Dallas has received some very sweet justice after a two-year battle with her clients — a couple who accused her of withholding their wedding photos, publicly shamed her for it, and ultimately caused her to shut down her business.
Last Friday, a Dallas County district court ruled in favor of professional photographer Andrea Polito, who, in 2015, had sued Andrew and Neely Moldovan for ruining her reputation. As the Washington Post‘s Ari Selk reported, the couple had argued they were victims in this situation and spent months trashing Polito online and in the media. They claimed that Polito was demanding an additional $125 fee they had not expected, and, until she received payment, refused to send them high-resolution copies of their pictures, for which they had already paid thousands of dollars. But the fee was standard: as Polito’s studio contract clearly laid out, it was meant to cover the cost of a custom wedding album, delivery of which marked the completion of the purchased wedding package. All the Moldovans had to do was fill out a form to let Polito know how they would like their final photographs assembled.
The Moldovans must now pay Polito $1 million in damages, as the court ordered last Friday, for malicious defamation. Much of their disparagement against the photographer played out in the media, which the couple seriously worked to portray themselves as targets of a scam artist. But Neely Moldovan, a full-time lifestyle blogger who often writes sponsored posts, also worked her social media pages to criticize Polito’s business, spreading negative reviews to her thousands of followers. According to the Post, Polito depends largely on referrals to run her studio; the Moldovans’ shaming, which forced her to shut it down, reportedly cost her hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit in the last two years. In an open letter published on her website in January 2015, Polito shared a run-down of the great lengths to which the couple disparaged her name online.
Meanwhile, she and her employees had tried multiple times to conciliate with her enraged clients, as emails shown in court revealed. Messages between her and Neely show that the blogger had essentially failed to properly read the contract. Text messages also speak to the couple’s hell-bent intention to harm the photographer’s business.
“We are hoping that our story makes the news and completely ruins her business,” Neely Moldovan wrote to an acquaintance, according to court records. It’s a statement you wouldn’t exactly expect from someone who writes positive outlook posts such as “9 Ways to Feel Happier,” “Why Goals are helpful: 5 Benefits of Monthly Goals,” and “Sisterhood of Motherhood.” Then again, Neely isn’t exactly a revered figure in the blogosphere — bloggers on Gomiblog have been trashing her for her apparent cattiness, disingenuousness, and bad grammar since 2012; the forum devoted entirely to her — yes, one exists — has grown to 247 pages to this day.
Friday’s decision brought an end to a trial that had been long delayed: the Moldovans reportedly tried to have the suit dismissed and even said that Polito hadn’t lost any business. But the jury ruled that Polito was in the right and had never wrongfully withheld photographs. Still, the case isn’t over yet, as the couple is still able to challenge the verdict, and Polito’s lawyer expects them to.
Regardless of what happens, Polito has turned her past turmoil into opportunity: she has spent the last few years writing a book about the situation and has given talks about social shaming. Over the past year, she has also built an online education platform to teach photographers about building their own business. Meanwhile, Neely Moldovan blogs on as if all is well, about her August #goals, the seven things she does before sleep every night, and the products she uses to maintain her post-pregnancy skin.
