Overview

• Martel died on Sept. 18 in New York at age 63 after a long battle with breast cancer, according to a family statement.
• Over three decades, she shaped the visual identities of major artists including Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, the Killers, Nicki Minaj and Miley Cyrus.
• Her 2013 run featured Miley Cyrus’s We Can’t Stop and Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines, and she served as creative director for Cyrus’s MTV VMA medley and Bangerz tour.
• She corroborated Emily Ratajkowski’s account of groping on the Blurred Lines set, saying she stopped the shoot and that Thicke apologized.
• In recent years she taught as the University of Oregon’s 2022 visiting filmmaker and returned to directing with Ciara’s Ecstasy earlier this year, as tributes pour in across social media.