Emily Ratajowski recalls being sexually assaulted by renowned photographer

Actor opened up about events from a photo-shoot in 2012

Actor Emily Ratajkowski, in an essay she wrote for the New York Magazine that published on Tuesday, has alleged that photographer Jonathan Leder sexually assaulted her following a nude photo-shoot in 2012.

The model, now 29, recalled traveling to Leder's home in the Catskills for an "unpaid editorial" shoot, during which she posed both in lingerie and without clothes, under instructions from her former agent.

Ratajkowski went on to explain how she had wine with Leder, following which she became "very drunk." She then claimed that the photographer touched her inappropraitely without her consent while they sat on a couch together after the shoot.

"Most of what came next was a blur except for the feeling. I don't remember kissing, but I do remember his fingers," she recalled. "I could feel the shape of myself and my ridges, and it really, really hurt," the Entourage actor added.

Ratajkowski then stopped him and "didn't say a word" to him as he walked away. She said she spent the night in one of the bedrooms they used for the photo shoot. "I was both confused as to why Jonathan had left without a word and terrified that he would come back," she added.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Emily Ratajkowski (@emrata) on Sep 15, 2020 at 5:40am PDT

The photographer has reportedly denied Ratajkowski's allegations when contacted by a New York Magazine fact-checker, stating that her claims were "too tawdry and childish to respond to."

According to the outlet, he went on to say, "You do know who we are talking about right? This is the girl that was naked in Treats magazine, and bounced around naked in the Robin Thicke (Blurred Lines) video at that time. You really want someone to believe she was a victim?"

In a statement to Insider, a representative from Imperial Pictures Publishing, which Leder co-founded, wrote that the photographer denied the model's allegations. "We are all deeply disturbed to read Ms. Ratajkowski's latest (false) statements to NY Mag in her never-ending search for press and publicity," the representative wrote.

Leder also told The Daily Mail that Ratajkowski's allegations are "totally false."

The allegations come four years after Ratajkowski accused Leder of publishing nude photographs from the shoot without her consent

Several years after the shoot, Ratajkowski learned that Leder had published the photographs in a book titled, Emily Ratajkowski in 2016 without her permission. According to the model, it included some of the most "revealing and vulgar Polaroids he had taken" of her at the time.

In a series of tweets, she wrote that she tried to avoid speaking about Leder but "had enough" after learning about the book.

I've been resisting speaking publicly on the recently released photos by Jonathan Leder to avoid giving him publicity. But I've had enough

— Emily Ratajkowski (@emrata) November 30, 2016

Ratajkowski added that the book and the use of the photos without permission were a "violation" and an "example of exactly the opposite" of what she stands for.

This book and the images within them are a violation.

— Emily Ratajkowski (@emrata) November 30, 2016

These photos being used w/out my permission is an example of exactly the opposite of what I stand for:

— Emily Ratajkowski (@emrata) November 30, 2016

New York City's Castor Gallery also announced plans to feature the photos in an exhibition called "Polaroids."

Her lawyer sent a cease-and-desist letter to Leder and the gallery, stating that they didn't have the right to the images as Ratajkowski claimed she only agreed to one-time usage for a magazine spread.

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