Terry Richardson loses bid to halt Lady Gaga photo release

More than 142,000 photos of Lady Gaga on tour are set to become public after celebrity snapper Terry Richardson lost his bid to halt their court-ordered release after arguing he would suffer "immeasurable financial loss".

Last month (Jul13), a judge in New York told the photographer to hand over the snaps from the pop star's Monster Ball tour as part of a legal battle between the singer and her former assistant, Jennifer O'Neill.

O'Neill is suing Gaga over claims she is owed thousands of dollars in unpaid overtime money, and she alleged Richardson's photographs would help prove the lengths she went to to please her employer.

Richardson appealed against the decision to unseal the images, with his lawyer Steven Hurd telling a Manhattan court the snapper's "business and livelihood depend on the value of his photographs," adding he will suffer "immeasurable financial loss" if the pictures are released.

However, he lost his bid on Tuesday (13Aug13) when Manhattan Federal Judge Paul Gardephe ruled against him and ordered the pictures be made available for the ongoing court proceedings, according to the New York Post.

Richardson previously released around 350 of his backstage snaps of Gaga in a 2011 book titled Lady Gaga X Terry Richardson.