Model and actress Emily Ratajkowski is accusing photographer Jonathan Leder of sexually assaulting her during a photoshoot at his home in the Catskills area of New York in 2012.
Ratajkowski made the claims in an essay for New York magazine, where she alleged Leder coerced her into posing naked for the shoot and provided her with red wine when she was 20 years old and an up-and-coming model.
Ratajkowski, now 29, said the unpaid photo shoot for Darius magazine required an overnight stay and she was taken aback when she was made aware that the session would require her to model lingerie.
“I’d been taught that it was important to earn a reputation as hardworking and easygoing,” she opened up in the letter. “‘You never know who they’ll be shooting with next!’ my agent would remind me.”
Ratajkowski claimed Leder suggested they “try naked now” before proceeding with the session.
“The second I dropped my clothes, a part of me disassociated,” she wrote. “I began to float outside of myself, watching as I climbed back onto the bed. I arched my back and pursed my lips, fixating on the idea of how I might look through his camera lens. Its flash was so bright and I’d had so much wine that giant black spots were expanding and floating in front of my eyes.”
said there was also a makeup artist at the residence who was present for the photo shoot. She said things took a turn when the artist called it a night and went to bed, leaving Ratajkowski and Leder alone as they kept warm under a blanket.
It was then that she said she felt “very, very drunk” although she was wide awake, and Leder allegedly began inquiring about her boyfriends.
“He told me he liked ‘that foot thing you’re doing,’ and I remember this moment more clearly than anything else,” she wrote as she recalled herself rubbing her feet together in an attempt to keep warm. “I hate that Jonathan commented on something I’ve done throughout my life to comfort myself.”
She continued: “Most of what came next was a blur except for the feeling. I don’t remember kissing, but I do remember his fingers suddenly being inside of me,” Ratajkowski claims.
“Harder and harder and pushing and pushing like no one had touched me before or has touched me since. I could feel the shape of myself and my ridges, and it really, really hurt. I brought my hand instinctively to his wrist and pulled his fingers out of me with force. I didn’t say a word. He stood up abruptly and scurried silently into the darkness up the stairs.”
Emily returned to New York City and years later, Mr. Leder had published the photos in a book. She adds that she never signed a release at that time and sent him and his team a cease-and-desist order.
In a statement to Page Six, Leder has denied Emily‘s claims.
“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,” Mr. Leder‘s rep said. “Of course Mr. Leder totally denies her outrageous allegations of being ‘assaulted.’ It is grotesque and sad that she is so vindictive to lie in such a way to the press routinely.”
They added, “She knows she has no legal recourse to stop publication, so bad mouthing the photographer (again) with salacious accusations seems to be her newfound answer. It is a shame, because the photos are really powerful and they are beloved by so many of her fans.”
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