![\"marilyn](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/marilyn-monroe-negatives-stolen-1-800x420.jpg\")
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The widow of a renowned photographer who captured Marilyn Monroe\u2019s final photo shoot is seeking to halt an upcoming auction, claiming that thousands of original negatives from the historic session were stolen years ago.<\/p>\n
Bert Stern became one of the last photographers to shoot Monroe when he was commissioned by Vogue to photograph the star in June and July 1962 \u2014 six weeks before her death. The iconic photo shoot, later known as The Last Sitting, produced more than 2,500 images. Stern first published many of the photos from this session in a 1982 book, including contact sheets that showed Monroe\u2019s own crossed-out selections.<\/p>\n
However, according to a report by The Independent,<\/a> Stern\u2019s widow, Shannah Laumeister Stern, says those roughly 2,500 negatives vanished \u201cin the middle of the night\u201d from the photographer\u2019s apartment long before he died in 2013. She has now filed a lawsuit in New York County Supreme Court seeking to block Heritage Auctions, based in Dallas, from selling what she alleges are the photos derived from the missing negatives.<\/p>\n In the complaint,<\/a> Shannah says Stern always \u201csuspected that the Mafia was behind the theft of the photo negatives, and that they also bore responsibility for Marilyn Monroe\u2019s untimely death.\u201d She says Stern received anonymous, taunting messages over the years about the \u201cmissing\u201d negatives, which added to his fear and reluctance to pursue the matter.<\/p>\n The negatives\u2019 whereabouts allegedly remained unknown until 2023, when Shannah was contacted by a lawyer representing a woman identified as \u201cJane Doe.\u201d Doe claimed her late husband had received the negatives from Stern as collateral for a loan that was never repaid. The lawsuit argues there is no evidence that such a loan ever existed.<\/p>\n The complaint says the attorney first asserted the negatives had been recovered from the trash, and later stated they were loan collateral \u2014 claims Shannah disputes. It also states that Stern ended all communication after the attorney allegedly sought $3 million to return the negatives, a request the filing describes as \u201ca shakedown\u201d and possibly linked to the anonymous messages Stern had received.<\/p>\n According to the lawsuit, Doe consigned the negatives to Heritage Auctions, which is offering the photos of Monroe in a sale this month. Shannah is asking the court to stop the sale of the photos and return the materials to the Bert Stern Trust, arguing that \u201cthe relief requested herein is necessary to prevent irreparable harm to the Estate and legacy of Bert Stern and Marilyn Monroe.\u201d<\/p>\n In a statement to The Independent, Shannah says: \u201cI feel deeply disrespected, used, and taken advantage of. The stolen negatives belong back with the Bert Stern Trust. Nothing will stop me.\u201d<\/p>\n But Richard Aulisi, a retired New York State Supreme Court judge representing Doe, tells The Independent that Laumeister Stern\u2019s allegations are incorrect, saying: \u201cMy client intends to fight this. There is no legal or factual basis for this action.\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Heritage Auctions also tells the publication in an email that \u201cthe consigner warranted good title in these items and we have no reason to believe otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n The news of the lawsuit comes after legendary war photographer Al Rockoff \u2014 who was immortalized in the classic movie The Killing Fields \u2014 claimed that his historic negatives were taken from him <\/a>against his will in a bitter dispute.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Marilyn_Monroe_-_The_Complete_Last_Sitting_cover-censored.jpg\")
The cover for Bert Stern\u2019s book \u2018Marilyn Monroe \u2013 The Complete Last Sitting\u2019 published in 1992 (Photo credit: Wikimedia commons<\/a>) <\/p>\n