Emily Ratajkowski has been called ‘vindictive’ and ‘sad’ by photographer Jonathan Leder’s publishing company after she accused him of sexually assaulting her during a nude shoot at his home in the Catskills in 2012.
In an essay for The Cut, the now 29-year-old said she remembers Leder’s fingers suddenly being inside of her while they were sitting on his couch after she drank copious amounts of wine during the shoot, despite only being 20 at the time.
Leder vehemently denied the claims and has all but disappeared from social media, but Heather Tynan, the editorial director of his company, Imperial Publishing, released a statement attacking the model and accusing her of trying to drum up press for herself with the story.
Speaking out: Emily Ratajkowski has claimed that she was sexually assaulted by photographer Jonathan Leder during a nude shoot in 2012, when she was 20 years old
Accused: Ratajkowski, now 29, said that she remembers Leder’s ‘fingers suddenly being inside of [her],’ recalling that it ‘really, really hurt’
‘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,’ she said in the statement released on Imperial Publishing’s website.
‘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.’
Tynan claimed Ratajkowski’s sexual assault accusation against Leder was revenge for him publishing an $80 book of nude photos of her, titled ‘Emily Ratajkowski,’ years after their shoot in the Catskills.
In her essay for The Cut, Ratajkowski said that some of the images in the photography book were posted on Leder’s Instagram and ‘among the most revealing and vulgar Polaroids’ he had taken of her.
The model recalled being ‘livid and frantic’ after learning of the book’s publication, saying she was afraid of what it could do to her reputation as an actress. She explained that she had been warned to ‘shy away from being “sexy” in order to be taken seriously.’
Ratajkowski contacted her lawyer, who sent a cease-and-desist letter to Leder and the gallery that was planning to exhibit his images of her to coincide with the release of the book.
‘My lawyer argued that Jonathan had no right to use the images beyond their agreed-upon usage,’ she said. ‘When I agreed to shoot with Jonathan, I had consented only for the photos to be printed in the magazine they were intended for.’
However, the gallery went to the New York Times with a signed release that gave Leder the rights to publish the images in whatever capacity he saw fit.
Rebuttal: Leder denied the allegations to The Cut, saying, ‘…She bounced around naked in the Robin Thicke video (pictured)… You really want someone to believe she was a victim?’
Hitting back: Heather Tynan, the editorial director of Leder’s company, Imperial Publishing, released a statement attacking the model, calling her ‘vindictive’ and ‘sad’
Opinion: Tynan said the cease-and-desist letter Ratajkowski’s lawyer sent to the company over Leder’s book of photos from the 2012 shoot was a ‘bullying scare tactic’
Allegation: Tynan suggested that the model had accused Leder of sexual assault as revenge because the company had ‘had every legal right’ to publish the books of photos
Ratajkowski maintains that she never signed a release, and her agent who arranged the shoot — who no longer works in the industry — also insists she didn’t sign anything on her behalf.
The model was among a number of female stars who had their nude photos published on controversial site 4chan after an iCloud hack in 2014, and she said the idea of Leder having free reign over the shoot images ‘terrified’ her, particularly because of what that meant for all of the ‘other thousands, maybe millions’ of photos that she had posed for during her career.
But despite her…
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