I Was Wrong. I Need To Apologize To Anyone I've Offended.

I Was Wrong. I Need To Apologize To Anyone I've Offended.

For a while I've wanted to pour out everything in my heart, but it's been bottled up. Out of fear, humiliation, and hurt. What I've encountered in the past few days is one of the hardest moments of my professional life, but I need to address this face-forward.

There are truth and lies swarming the internet and I need to take a moment to clear the air. But before I do that, I need to apologize to anyone I've offended. Knowing I've let people down is one of the hardest things to accept. Beyond all else, I've let myself down and the shame I feel is overwhelming.

Firstly, I need to address the most pressing matter at hand. For the past seven years I've blogged 1,500+ posts. I was passionate about creating a blog to share content I learned along the way. I placed an inordinate amount of pressure on myself to write and produce content every day. This {self-imposed} pressure led me to compromise my ethics and publish four blog posts using content I sourced from other blogs. I absolutely should have cited the sources, but didn't. I was wrong. I totally admit this is my fault and I'm humiliated by my actions.

The posts (three posts written in 2012 and one in 2013) were removed, I contacted the publishers of each blog, and I apologized. I offered to make amends any way I could and, thankfully, they responded gracefully.

Since then, a petition has started to remove my name from a list of speakers at WPPI. The petition is unnecessary because I've removed myself from the speaker list. This was a difficult decision to make, but I love this industry too much to see a group of people use my flaws to polarize photographers.

 

[To view high resolution images of the blog posts you can click on the photos below]

 

Fstoppers - Jasmine Open Letter Apology 1

Fstoppers - Jasmine Open Letter Apology 2

Fstoppers - Jasmine Open Letter Apology 3

Secondly, those accusing me of stealing a photo to promote a workshop are wrong. I've never used someone else's photo as my own. In 2010, I was invited to speak at a workshop (hosted by a magazine and I was an invited guest) and they created marketing material on their own. The magazine used an image to promote the event. I spoke for free, gave of my time, and didn't have a say as to how the event would be promoted.

Thirdly, on August 16, 2013, I addressed and apologized for misleading my Twitter followers. You can read the entirety here:

Fstoppers Jasmine Open Letter Apology 4

Lastly, for anyone who has accused me of using a fake name is wrong. I was born Jasmine Star Juarez, and later changed it to Jasmine Star DeLaTorre (my married name). I've never hidden this fact, and have chosen to use my first and middle name for business purposes.

I appreciate those who've stood by my side during this time. It's been a humiliating lesson, but those who have encouraged me to move forward are priceless and I appreciate it more than I can express. My actions are entirely my own and I accept full culpability. These explanations aren't suppose to justify my actions, but merely commit to making better decisions and bring full disclosure to the situation. Again, my sincerest apologies.

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Previous comments

The is the Maximum amount in a Copy Right Infringement case.

Punishment of copyright infringement varies case-by-case across
countries. Convictions may include jail time and/or severe fines for
each instance of copyright infringement. In the United States, willful
copyright infringement carries a maximum penalty of $150,000 per
instance.

But still, you can plagiarize and do a copyright infringement in the same time.

"According to Wikipedia" ... yikes

One could make a case that the plagiarized content resulted in increased revenue because her content was directly related to workshop attendance. People wouldn't come unless they saw her blog and her blog contained material that was not hers yet people were given the impression that it was. It's a stretch but someone might be ab;e to make it stick.

Exactly.
She apologized and that is great. The crime still stands though.

Stated from the man with no profile.

What difference does that make "Guest"? Facts are facts.

Regardless of whether or not the apology is genuine, she really has spent countless hours creating content to teach other photographers how to be better at all aspects of the business. That, in turn, is good marketing for her, so it's not entirely selfless, but it's still a lot more generous than most. I don't care about her morals or whether she's sorry....I don't look up to her as a role model since I don't even know her. I see her as a valuable educator and source of inspiration for people, and her mistakes here shouldn't really jeopardize that.

Can anyone image Doug Gordon showing this kind of respect, regret and humility? Neither do I. Jasmine, you just regained my respect. Go on doing what you do best, create fabulous photos.

I have to admit I knew very little about Jasmine before this. I'd heard her name and watched her on Creative Live once. What strikes me about this apology is 1) Her attempt to minimize what she's done by pointing out that she's written over 1500 blog posts and only 4 of them were written around stolen content. 2) The way she presents herself almost as a martyr by saying she's chosen to remove herself from the speakers list at WPPI rather than allow a group to polarize photographers because of her. (An idea that seems somewhat egotistical to me. As if she holds so much power she could polarize an entire industry.)

Jasmine, why not keep your speaking spot and use it as an opportunity to speak out about stealing content and giving proper credit? I'm sure there are many following you who may think that because you've done it, it's somehow okay. Given that yours is not the only story of stolen content, it's apparently a topic that should be covered in a large venue.

That being said. An apology is only as good as the actions that follow it. I hope that you have learned your lesson.

Unfortunately she never will. The only thing Jasmine cares about is how she can leverage profit out of all this. The is a total fraud and some day the whole truth will come to light. The Jasmine Star brand has had nothing but a negative effect on the photography industry. All her worshippers who bought into her Restart course will find out that their business isn't really much better than it was. The only worthwhile bits of information from her course can easily be found in most books about marketing - probably in a paragraph or two.

We can say that just about every other photographer who markets to other photographers. What really irks me is when these "professionals" pretend to be giving us newbies some free information to help us in our journeys, only to watch or listen to their bunch of nonsense for several hours at a time only to get to the end and find out "Oh you mean your not really giving me any relevant information that can help me but just buttering me up to spend several hundred dollars to get to the real information that will help me?" I wouldn't pay them a dime for anything just for that crap!.

Are you stalking this woman? Your hatred seems personal and obsessive for a stranger.

"Unfortunately she never will. The only thing Jasmine cares about" - unless you are God, this is beyond your knowledge and screams crazy. You need to take a break from Jasmine and maybe see somebody.
"The Jasmine Star brand has had nothing but a negative effect on the photography industry." - Did people stop buying cameras? Are museums closing? Have other photographers closed up shop because she was born? WTF are you talking about? Never mind, just get some help.

"Some day the whole truth will come to light." - Unless the woman has someone else taking her pictures or writing her blog, and not just 5 posts out of 1500, this again speaks to your instability. She's not claiming to cure cancer or create a remedy for all the world's troubles. She takes pictures and writes. Get some perspective and get help.

The claim is incorrect of her stepping away before the petition is incorrect. The petition was out before she decided to remove herself from WPPI. WPPI even had a response saying it was taking all information into consideration. I agree her apology is all but sincere and or remorseful. To those who believe that this is nothing and we should all move on, would probably be the ones to also do the same. Her character has shown as a result of these findings, unfortunately too many have short memories and this may soon be forgotten, hopefully PPA and other large platforms do the same as WPPI. Jasmine had plenty of opportunities to post her apologies and when she did, she only did it to a private group she is a part of, and when anyone spoke against it they were all removed from that group. All in itself making it very suspicious that she did not care about apologizing, but rather only doing it for those who would continue to support such actions. Shame on her for it!

Graceful and genuine apology. We make mistakes, cuz we are human. Thank you for posting and let's move on.

Good read. I have already moved on from this. Hope people let you live!

Amen, now I hope people can move on. I have respect for anyone who can face up to their mistakes. As someone formerly involved with a horrible group that doesn't let things ever rest, I hope photographers can move forward and respect this lady for her sincere words and effort to right a wrong.

It seems that when we are at fault for something, that one fault shines brightly, blinding eyes to all the great things we've done. I still see all the great things you've done and they far outweigh your mistakes. We are all guilty of mistakes, but not all of us have the courage to to face them publicly. Apology accepted and I look forward to learning more from you.

You are a very classy lady! A few hundred politicians and sports figures could take a lesson from you!

Really proud of you for being completely honest and straightforward about this, Jasmine. Over the years, you've helped me more than I could possibly imagine... in fact, you're one of the major reasons I'm a wedding photographer today.... and I know I'm not the one who can say that. Thank you so much for being honest with the industry, and I wish you the best of luck (and give you my support!) as you continue to move forward. :)

We all make mistakes but it is what we do after erring that defines us. She might be caught for stealing content but I still respect her skills as a photographer, businesswoman, and writer. I think we all deserve a second chance , and she is not different to any of us who is also prone to mistakes. Let us give her time to get up, and let us all learn from this that in any walk of life, our integrity will ALWAYS be tested. We should strive to always do the RIGHT thing. The internet is already full of thieves, but there are only a few who are strong enough to apologize publicly... I am sure she will recover from this.

I am not up to date on any of this and I have never met her before but I want to say that I find it sad that Jasmine has reached such a high level of success in her business that she has a target on her this big. Sure, maybe her mistake is a little bigger than forgetting a "via link" but she apologized and gave up her speaking position. What more can people want from her? Who hasn't made a mistake before? I know it's easy to feel jealous of others but we have to move past that and not wish for their total destruction.

My thought is this: Be morally outraged if you are. Think this apology is self serving. if you do. Decide you want nothing to do with her. Fine. But, now that she has acknowledged publicly what she has done and the industry has taken note.... how does this effect you? What good does it do to continue to hate on her? Or try to shame her further?

You don't have to forgive her— that is up to you— you don't even have to forget about this (I won't), but is there any reason to try to tear her down further at this point?

How sorry was she before she was caught? Humiliated, blah blah blah. I'm usually very forgiving of people making mistakes. But I see this as being bigger than a mistake, it was a calculated deception. Perhaps she should be marketing to potential clients rather than to other photographers for a while. Her work is not bad, she should carve our her living in actually photographing.

Damage control all the way. I'm kind of disappointed in fstoppers for giving her this platform.

The most important parts of this message "I'm sorry to those I've offended..." <that's you, general photography population who are aghast at the evil schemes this woman perpetrated to which you are called to judge. And, "I contacted the publishers of each blog, and I apologized. I offered to make amends any way I could and, thankfully, they responded gracefully."< that's the actual owners of the stolen intellectual property. They are the ones with a bone to pick. And they've settled their dispute with Jasmine. Now go find someone else to lynch.

Jasmine set the fire in my life about photography. She showed me there is a way I can do what I love and have a life. She didn´t show me how to photograph, but how to think, how to respect my clients and myself. Today she shows me how to avoid mistakes like those.

All of you, who wrote those negative comments, YOU HAVE NO IDEA what is it to be in her shoes. And I am not talking about those mistakes, but about her life, her sacrifices and her success. You can´t imagine the kind of pressure she needs to stand on. It´s so easy to say those hard words when you are there, behind the screen having a private life and no one watches every step you make looking for mistakes. It´s not like that for her!

There is no bad thing J could possibly do to make me say "I don´t care about her".

There is nothing you´ve learnd from her?

There is nothing she did for you?

Are you all perfect?

Are you better than her?

Really?

For me the difference between J* and other IP thieves is that they do it with impunity. This debacle has left me sour towards photography and its many pros, some of whom do more of a disservice to photography than anything J* has done. The bitter taste is due to the difficulty that you are faced with while trying to make it in this industry, only to find leaders in this field doing this or worse. It is a world artists and if there is one thing I know of artists it is that they are very protective of their art, sometimes to a fault.

The same thing exists in the music industry, and there people have done far worse than this without anyone so much as batting an eye-lid at the rot. The fact that she was brave enough to pen this article shows either character or shrewdness. Character if she mends her ways, and the other if she does this again. I think we should all get off from our high horses and give her a chance. If she shows she has changed then good, if not then ... pitch fork anyone.

The funny thing about some of the comments here that are critiquing her apology is that unless you higher a PR person to pen or spin this then your apology will lack the finesse to appease the masses. So, much respect to her for not doing that as this appears to be an apology by a real person who did not manage to appease the masses but tried to speak from the heart.

I am most definitely still a fan of her work and looking forward to it :)

It was very big of you to apologize once you realized your mistake. Move on girl! Think of all the great things that you have accomplished and how many people will continue to look up to you. You have contributed so many aspects to the photography world. Apologizing for example is one of the reasons we will continue to be inspired by your integrity in this business. I personally thank you.

Everyone makes mistakes. The photography world is an unforgiving, cut-throat industry. From the way Jasmine is apologising, you'd swear she killed someone. To be on the wrong side of internet-hatred is tough. Everyone should take a step back and calm down a bit.

Apologizing because you get caught isn't really the same as apologizing because you felt guilty. I wonder if you hadn't got caught if we'd be reading an apology letter? Just asking.

I wonder if you apply the same "standard" towards ppl like Bill Clinton or Al Gore? Both liars, both seem to do much better today, both keep lying .

Are you asking if I'm surprised that politicians lie? I think you might be off topic.

No I am not surprised, but ... I do blame people who accept it as a norm.... like you (it seems). Saying... all politicians lie, and be OK because they belong to our party is as complicit as the III Reich Germans were complicit with the Hitler's terror on Europe. Supporting Clinton, Al Gore or now Obama and their constant lies about environment, constant vilification of opposition, human rights violations (by them) is as bad.

How is it not acceptable to lie in (normal) home, to your parents (or even children), or work, or a photographer, but ok to lie by people that hold public office?

People accept it as the norm because IT IS THE NORM. I don't know any human being who doesn't lie - from big ones to "yeah, I know how to fix it" when they have no idea how to fix it. Lying is the butter that greases the cogs of society. So I'm really surprised that you "blame" people like you have never, and aren't currently, doing something wrong, be in lying, cheating, being self-righteous (which your post exemplifies), etc. Maybe you are the only person on earth pure enough to walk on water, other than the judgmentalism and self-righteousness, but try to give the rest of us humans a break.

because you've never done anything wrong.. right ? :))

No it's not. She's apologizing because she got caught, just like 100% of the world has done something they shouldn't have, gotten caught, and apologized (not sure if 100% apologized but I know 100% have done something they shouldn't have). She's gotten caught, she's been outed publicly, she lost her speaking engagement, and she's apologized. LET IT GO. She's not killing herself for you.

I have met Jasmine Star and thought she was adorable, she created enthusiasm for wedding photography for young female photographers and I liked that for my daughters. I bought reSTARt and joined the group to learn how to increase our exposure and it helped so much. The team wasn't fans of her photography and thought her skills weren't up to par for teaching and preferred she didn't comment on film photography but we all pick and choose what we will learn from any instructors.

BUT I was deeply disappointed in how this was handled. When it really blew up in the reSTARt group, why did she allow the melee that ensued? Without explanation so many were kicked out of the group. Why did she allow her avid supporters to be so vicious. I got called hateful things and I made one comment on irony over a mispelling to bring some levity to the discussion without regard to the many comments I had made of thanks.

I wish the apology didn't minimize (out of 1500 blog posts - only 4), (the petition was unnecessary because I was going to withdraw anyway). I saw the apology in the resTARt group that she had apologized to the writers and the next day one of them said he had received no apology. HOWEVER as someone who made my own huge mistakes in younger years I know how hard humiliation, shame, anger at yourself, anger at the lies of others that made things worse piled onto the your own stupidity. So I kept Jasmine Star De La Torre in my prayers and still do. I have lived this painful lesson and learned that the most important thing you can do is walk the talk and face your mistakes head on before someone has to force you to. She can survive successfully and with grace having learned some big lessons and I hope she does. I hope she realizes that the polarizing happened because she didn't learn them sooner.

This "scandal" has done more for her marketing than any marketing campaign she could design. I believe that fellow photographers are more up in arms about this case than clients are....more money in her pocket.

Well said Jasmine! I'm so proud of you. You're heart is in the right place and I hope you know you are loved. For being a precious child of God and for being you. Not for your photography, not for what you have or haven't done, but for being you. Praying that others can extend the grace that they would so desperately crave if they had done something wrong (oh wait, we all have!). <3

Pretty sure she's a child of her parents. There's no such thing as god. Please read a book (not that book) and catch up to the rest of us in 2013.

Dafuq are you?

I was really disappointed when I heard about the posts/tweet plagiarisms. However, what I really wanted to see was how Jasmine would handle the situation. I felt ignoring it (which is what happened until now) was a disservice, and it upset me. I'm glad she finally addressed the allegations. Thank you Jasmine for owning up, apologizing and taking responsibility. I know you will 100% bounce back from this.

From http://www.ithenticate.com/

"Plagiarism is a crime – that is a fact.

Just like with other forms of theft, the legal penalties for the
crime vary depending on the severity. Going into a store and stealing a
pack of gum is a lesser offense compared with stealing a car.

From plagiarism.org:

Most cases of plagiarism are
considered misdemeanors, punishable by fines of anywhere between $100
and $50,000 — and up to one year in jail. Plagiarism can also be
considered a felony under certain state and federal laws. For example,
if a plagiarist copies and earns more than $2,500 from copyrighted
material, he or she may face up to $250,000 in fines and up to ten years
in jail."

The only people she needs "forgiveness" from are those she stole from. If its true that they did so will grace, then great. Any other actions she does like from removing herself from WPPI, etc is to salvage her brand. That's it. No one else was wronged. You have a choice of whether you will continue to follow her, view her the same. But you don't have forgiveness to offer since its not yours to give.

Just another fallen "star" in our industry. Apparently brand image and integrity can be a bitch when you're chasing after success.

It's sorta not cool but its all good in my eyes. Jasmine you've given so many shooters out there so much knowledge. Your sharing of information has definitely help put tens of thousands of dollars in my pocket and helped me remove some of the stress I used to feel when I shot weddings. You've done lots of good, good that you didnt have to do. Big heart. So its all good as far as I'm concerned.

I've never been a champion for J Star (or any particular tog) but she's owned up to it and apologized to those she's offended. It appears her apologies were graciously accepted. Move on and move forward.

Jasmine, you have apologized with humbleness and grace. For those who like to throw stones you are not perfect. Not one of us is. I have seen the basing on Facebook and I have told those who follow me that if I see it you will be removed. I hate to see anyone bash another. Grown up bullies are not good examples. If you cannot say anything nice then keep quite.

Glad she owned up to it, and hopefully it'll be something that never happens again. One of the problems on the Internet is that people shame forever and never let it go ... Hopefully the masses will also behave.

You made a mistake and corrected it. Learn from it and all move on.

I'd never heard of Jasmine Star until yesterday. Just checked out her Youtube page and it appears as though part of her shtick is teaching others how to become wedding photographers. Apparently all you need to do nowadays is but some expensive gear and watch Jasmine's videos - lots of close ups of her, BTW - and **poof** you're ready to go out and start charging people big bucks.

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