The model and entrepreneur recounts the 2012 incident in a powerful essay

In a new essay exploring&nbsp;image, power and consent, <a href="https://www.lofficielsingapore.com/beauty/emily-ratajkowski-s-quarantine-skincare-routine-includes-this-unexpected-ingredient">Emily Ratajkowski</a> has opened up about being sexually assaulted by photographer Jonathan Leder during a photoshoot in the early years of her career.&nbsp;

Published just yesterday in New York Magazine, the 29-year-old model and entrepreneur details&nbsp;her harrowing experience, which she claims&nbsp;occurred at Leder&#39;s home in the Catskills in 2012. Ratajkowski explains&nbsp;that her agent at the time had booked her for an unpaid editorial shoot, requiring her to stay overnight with the photographer and his family.&nbsp;

Although she was surprised to learn upon arrival that it was a lingerie shoot, she continued to follow Leder&#39;s directions, even when he asked her to pose nude.&nbsp;

&quot;I&#39;d been taught that it was important to earn a reputation as hardworking and easygoing,&quot; she writes, adding that she accepted wine from Leder throughout the night in an effort to seem mature, though she was underage then.&nbsp;

&quot;I&#39;d been shot nude a handful of times before, always by men. I&#39;d been told by plenty of photographers and agents that my body was one of the things that made me stand out among my peers. My body felt like a superpower,&quot; she continues. &quot;Still, though, the second I dropped my clothes, a part of me dissociated. I began to float outside myself, watching as I climbed back onto the bed... The next thing I remember is being in the dark.&quot;

After the shoot was over, a &quot;very, very drunk&quot; Ratajkowski recalls huddling under a blanket on the couch&nbsp;with Leder. &quot;Most of what came next was a blur except for the feeling. I don&#39;t remember kissing, but I do remember his fingers suddenly being inside of me... and it really, really hurt,&quot; she recounts. &quot;I brought my hand instinctively to his wrist, and pulled his fingers out of me with force. I didn&#39;t say a word. He stood up abruptly and scurried silently into the darkness up the stairs.&quot;

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A few years later, when Ratajkowski had risen to fame for her appearance in Robin Thicke&#39;s &#39;Blurred Lines&#39; video, Leder published a book with the photos he took in 2012, although neither she nor her agent had signed a release permitting him to use those images beyond the original editorial they were meant for.&nbsp;

&quot;I watched as Emily Ratajkowski sold out and was reprinted once, twice, and then three times,&quot; she said. &quot;I tweeted about what a violation this book was, how he was using and abusing my image for profit without my consent. In bed alone, I used to scroll through the replies. They were unrelenting.&quot;

Leder&#39;s rep denies all accusations. When contacted by a fact-checker on the essay, the photographer himself&nbsp;also made several condescending and misogynistic comments about Ratajkowski: &quot;You do know who we are talking about, right? This is the girl that...&nbsp;bounced around naked in the Robin Thicke video at the time. You really want someone to believe she is a victim?&quot;

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If you are a survivor of sexual assault, you can call the Sexual Assault Care Centre in Singapore at 6779 0292 or visit their <a href="http://sacc.aware.org.sg/">website</a> to receive confidential support.&nbsp;

Emily Ratajkowski Accuses Photographer Jonathan Leder Of Sexual Assault

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