Starlet Scam: Rita Hayworth’s Cover Girls Fund Exposed as Ponzi Scheme

In 1943, the Western Newspaper Union released a shocking report about the Cover Girls, a group of models working for the popular magazine starring Rita Hayworth. What seemed like a benevolent gesture – each model contributing a dollar a week for 13 weeks to a career starter fund – was, in reality, a Ponzi scheme. The fund, touted as a way to help the models launch their careers, was actually a means for the first star making $390 to line her own pockets. The entire amount, $195, would be matched by the first Cover Girl who received a screen offer after finishing her role at Columbia, only to be handed over to her as a ‘career starter’ fund. This scheme was a brazen example of white-collar crime, preying on the hopes and dreams of aspiring models.