{"id":167,"date":"2020-09-16T14:27:05","date_gmt":"2020-09-16T04:27:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/?post_type=articles&p=177478"},"modified":"2020-10-12T20:15:00","modified_gmt":"2020-10-12T20:15:00","slug":"emily-ratajkowski-jonathan-leder","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/emily-ratajkowski-jonathan-leder\/","title":{"rendered":"A Call For Imperial Publishing To, At The Very, Very Least, Remove Its Description Of Its Leder\/Ratajkowski Book"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Emily
Instagram @emrata<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a lengthy essay published today in New York magazine<\/em>,<\/a> model and activist Emily Ratajkowski accuses photographer Jonathan Leder of sexually assaulting her during a photo shoot at his New York home in 2012.<\/p>\n

The (very well-written) essay is difficult to read. It\u2019s moving, it\u2019s disturbing, it\u2019s raw. In it, the 29-year-old recounts an unpaid photoshoot she did with Leder as a 20-year-old for a magazine called Darius<\/em>. As Leder\u2019s home at the time was located in the Catskills in upstate New York, the modeling job required an overnight stay.<\/p>\n

A young and na\u00efve Ratajkowski reportedly accepted Leder\u2019s offer of having a few glasses of red wine, in an attempt to appear more mature. After being shot in her underwear, Ratajkowski says Leder then suggested they try naked shots.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe second I dropped my clothes, a part of me disassociated,\u201d Ratajkowski writes. \u201cI 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\u2019d had so much wine that giant black spots were expanding and floating in front of my eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the shoot, Ratajkowski recalls feeling \u201cvery, very drunk\u201d and, after the crew had left, found herself huddled underneath a blanket on the couch with Leder. \u201cMost of what came next was a blur except for the feeling. I don\u2019t remember kissing, but I do remember his fingers suddenly being inside of me,\u201d she writes. \u201cI didn\u2019t say a word. He stood up abruptly and scurried silently into the darkness up the stairs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The model says she caught the train home the next morning.<\/p>\n

Years later, as Ratajkowski’s star rose, Leder’s images were published inside a book by Imperial Publishing. Ratajkowski and her agent claim these photos were published without the model\u2019s permission.<\/p>\n

When questioned about the images, New York magazine<\/em> claims Leder responded with: \u201cYou do know who we are talking about right? This is the girl that was naked in\u00a0Treats!<\/em> magazine, and bounced around naked in the Robin Thicke video at that time. You really want someone to believe she was a victim?\u201d<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s Imperial Publishing\u2019s response to Ratajkowski\u2019s claims that is perhaps the most shocking of all.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are all deeply disturbed to read Ms. Ratajkowski\u2019s latest (false) statements to NY mag\u00a0<\/em>in her never-ending search for press and publicity,\u201d the rep says in a statement released uploaded to their website today. \u201cOf course Mr Leder totally denies her outrageous allegations of being \u2018assaulted.’ It is grotesque and sad that she is so vindictive to lie in such a way to the press routinely.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Ms. Ratajkowski knows that she has no legal recourse to stop publication,” the statement continues. “So bad mouthing the photographer (again) with false and salacious, baseless accusations seems to be her newfound answer.”<\/div>\n
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Google “Imperial Publishing” and the first book to appear on their roster is Leder\/Ratajkowski Collector’s Edition. <\/em>Click on the site and there’s a bevy of products all born from the same shoot; a linen-bound book titled “Two Nights With Emily,” framed prints of the shoot in question, the list goes on. But it\u2019s the former book\u2019s blurb that is currently still published to the site that is completely disrespectful and inappropriate given Ratajkowski’s accusations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn May 2012, photographer Jonathan Leder found himself alone in a house with a Polaroid camera and Emily Ratajkowski,\u201d it reads. \u201c\u2018She was very, shall we say, comfortable with her body,\u2019\u201d Leder writes in the foreword. \u201c\u2018And as far as shoots go, I would say it was fun.\u201d By the looks of it, she was having a good time, too. Whatever the vibe was during their two nights together, Leder\/Ratajkowski is the<\/em> document.”<\/p>\n

Reading this after reading Ratajkowski’s essay is numbing.<\/p>\n

In this post-Weinstein world, how is it ever OK to meet a woman\u2019s claims with the assumption that she must be \u201csad,” \u201cvindictive\u201d and a \u201cliar?\u201d How is the Leder\/Ratajkowski book still championed on Imperial Publishing\u2019s website? How is the above blurb still live on the site given Ratajkowski\u2019s account? How?<\/p>\n

Its placement on the site is to say Ratajkowski’s experience can be exchanged for monetary gain. That she is not believed. That her body is not her own. And that\u2019s just not right.<\/p>\n

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When does a model own her own image? "Since 2013, when I appeared in a viral music video, paparazzi have lurked outside my front door. I\u2019ve become accustomed to large men appearing suddenly between cars or jumping out from behind corners, with glassy black holes where their faces should be." Tap the link in bio to read\u00a0@emrata\u2019s first-person essay on buying herself back. Photo by\u00a0@tinatyrell Set Design by\u00a0@ericmestman<\/a><\/p>\n

A post shared by New York Magazine<\/a> (@nymag) on