Chrystal Callahan

Chrystal Callahan is a Toronto-born American fashion model, hot zone journalist, and philanthropist. Callahan has been dubbed the "Maverick Model" because of her reputation for taking on unconventional opportunities and covering events in dangerous post-war locations. She is of Russian, Nigerian and Irish descent, and holds dual citizenship in the United States and Canada. She speaks English, Russian, Chechen, Swedish and some Japanese and French. Callahan began her public career as a fashion model as a teenager. She was signed to an agency in Tokyo where she did print and runway work for brands such as Chanel, Nike, Yohji Yamamoto, and FUBU. While directing the documentary "Greco-Roman Grozny" in 2007, Callahan met the president of Chechnya and and became friends with him and the Minister of Press. In 2009 when the counter terrorism ban was lifted off the war torn republic, Callahan became the first and only Western person accepted into this closed and secretive culture that foreigners don't have access to. She worked for the Chechen government and hosted a weekly current affairs show on television. Callahan resides in Las Vegas and runs a charity for children called Operation Icon (2012).