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Exile On Spring Street For Theodora Richards
By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 3, 2011
Modified Mar 3, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 3, 2011
Modified Mar 3, 2011
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On a ruby Tuesday night this week, fashion model Theodora Richards, scion of Rolling Stones guitarist/heroin enthusiast Keith Richards, was arrested for graffiti and drug possession. And because Charlie Sheen hasn't peeped out of his shell yet today, the dailies are all over this minor incident involving the offspring of a celebrity best known for worshipping at the altar of Chuck Berry and snorting his own fathers ashes.
At least the News uses an actual Stones reference in their headline ("Some Girls"), while the Post offers the much less relevant "Love Hurts"—unless they're making an obscure reference to the Keith Richards's cover of the song on the Gram Parsons tribute album "Return To Sin City." Richards, 25, was arrested tagging the side of a building on Spring Street, which houses St. Anthony's Convent. Disputing initial reports that she wrote "TNA," she was caught scrawling "T-Heart-A" with a red paint marker on the building.
Richards also had marijuana and 8 1/2 hydrocodone pills (such an exact amount!) in her possession at the time of the arrest. She was charged with making graffiti, possession of a graffiti instrument and possession of a controlled substance—yesterday afternoon, she rejected a cushy plea deal (two days of community service) offered by prosecutors if she decided to plead guilty to disorderly conduct. While her lawyer said she was "a lovely polite woman. She's fine," a nun doesn't think Richards is lovely at all: "It's defiling private property and it's a convent. We'll have to ask the city to take it off. Taxpayer money now has to pay for this."
So what was the meaning behind Richards' graffiti? The most likely scenario: it wasn't some political statement, or a sign that she is part of some radical graffiti group—the T probably stands for Theodora, and the A could be for her sister Alexandra. But we have one other theory: maybe it's a tribute to her father, and his classic feminist anthem "Little T&A" from 1981's Tattoo You. After all, what's more progressive than a five-foot-nine-inch cigarette ashtray dressed like a pirate mumbling, "She's my little rock 'n' roll/my tits and ass with a soul honey."
Tagged
arrest
graffiti
keith richards
models
nun
rolling stones
soho
Theodora Richards
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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