Andersen at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival.

For the Latter-day Saint children's leader, see May Anderson

May Andersen (born Lykke May Andersen on June 19, 1982 in Copenhagen, Denmark) is a Danish model. She is most known for her work with Victoria's Secret and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Despite her recent air rage arrest, her newfound notoriety has not changed her status of officially being used for publicizing the Danish tourism program: "Who doesn't like a Dane?" [1] although her agency Elite Model Management tried to distance her and themselves from it by changing her official booking name to Lykke May after the arrest and subsequent publicity, in time for New York's Fashion Week in July 2006. [2]

Early life

As a child she wanted to be a singer and took vocal lessons. Her career goal changed dramatically when a photographer spotted her on a Copenhagen street at age thirteen. The photographer convinced her and her parents that she would have a good chance of having a successful career as a fashion model, despite her young age. The year she turned eighteen, she relocated to New York.

In the news

Car accident

In 2000 the car she was riding in was hit by a garbage truck on Sixth Avenue. She broke her collarbone, her wrist in three places, and sustained injuries to her pelvis. She later received compensation from the City of New York.

Anti-fur activists

Because she chooses to pose in fur fashions, she has been a target of animal rights activists. The most public example was in 2003 when she was sprayed in the face with tear gas during Fashion Week in Paris together with fellow model Devon Aoki.

Arrest and deportation

On April 20, 2006, May Andersen was arrested for hitting a flight attendant on a flight from Amsterdam to Miami. Andersen was aboard Martinair Flight 643 on Thursday. She was "loud and disruptive all throughout the flight," according to a Miami-Dade police spokeswoman. Airport police arrested Andersen when the flight landed. She continued her loud and unruly behavior with officers, police said. Andersen was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital to check for signs of alcohol or drug abuse, then booked into Miami-Dade County Jail. [3]

She was deported by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials to the Netherlands on Monday, April 24, after spending two nights in jail. She was charged with battery, resisting arrest and disorderly intoxication. Upon her return to the United States, she was to stand trial.

On April 28, 2006, she appeared on Danish television [4], defending her behavior by stating that she could have pushed the flight attendant away accidentally while she slept, because he was bent over her attempting to adjust her seat. She also stated that she was awoken a second time by a police officer pulling her arm which could explain her unruly behavior because she did not understand the charge, and was separated from her girlfriend and still sleepy etc. In the TV-clip, pictures of her bruises were shown.

On July 25, 2006, in order to avoid a long and costly trial, she was offered a deal where she had to undergo an anger management course. Once completed, all charges would be dropped. The remaining charge, which there was evidence to support, was resisting arrest without violence. On August 1, 2006 it was confirmed that she had accepted the deal and would seek a course in New York, because the concept of such courses is unknown in Denmark. On September 20, 2006 the record on the Clerk of court page confirmed that she had completed the treatment of the undiagnosed psychological sickness. [5] (Record M06020827, dockets page).

TV character: Mae Anderson

On 21 September 2006, the American television series Six Degrees debuted on ABC with an opening scene of a character named Mae Anderson (played by Erika Christensen who is of Danish extraction), who after a night out carousing with friends, decides to hop on a garbage truck/street sweeper heading down Fifth Avenue toward Washington Square Park and take off her top, an act which gets her arrested. This bears several striking similarities with Andersen's own life, especially the car accident: The character's name, the actress's heritage, the garbage truck near Sixth Avenue, and an arrest (including scenes of her being identified by her mug shot in succeeding episodes).

External links

• May Andersen's own private site with private pictures, private blogs etc.
• May Andersen at Fashion Model Directory
• Danish supermodel May Andersen arrested in Florida after flight fracas
• Danish model May Andersen deported home following bad behavior
• Air-rampage supermodel booted out
• May Andersen's version of the incident
• Her casecard M06020827. Her name is misspelled as Anderson.
• May Andersen as official representative of Denmark
• Story about the deal offered