Emily Ratajkowski’s Instagram confession: Jonathan Leder claims

Model & actor Emily Ratajkowski recently went on Instagram and accused photographer Jonathan Leder of assault. Known for her role in Gone Girl, the twenty-nine year old came forward and recalled an assault that had taken place back in 2012.

Here’s everything you need to know about Ratajkowski’s claims against Leder.

Ratajkowski’s confession

In an essay written for New York Magazine, Ratajkowski came forward with claims against Leder. “In 2012, my agent told me I should buy a bus ticket from Penn Station to the Catskills, where a photographer named Jonathan Leder would pick me up and reimburse me for my fare.”

“We’d shoot in Woodstock, for some arty magazine I’d never heard of called Darius, and I’d spend the night at his place, she said. This was something the industry calls an unpaid editorial, meaning it would be printed in the magazine and the “exposure” would be my reward.” According to Ratajkowski, Leder appeared disinterested by her presence and this intrigued the young model more.

Photographer Leder began showing Ratajkowski his previous work which led to the model feeling competitive. “Something switched inside me then. As I looked at the images, I grew competitive. This guy shoots all these women, but I’m going to show him that I’m the sexiest and smartest of them all. That I am special.”

Leder kept bringing glasses of wine to the young model as she prepared for the shots. Leder then suggested nude shots would work best for the job. This led to Leder & Ratajkowski inspecting their work with Ratajkowski still drinking the wine. A hazy day turned into a hazy evening and Ratajkowski started getting foggy.

Leder & Ratajkowski began kissing rather forcefully according to the model. “Harder and harder and pushing and pushing like no one had touched me before or has touched me since.” When things progressed, Ratajkowski had to force Leder off of her. The pair didn’t speak of the incident and the next day parted ways.

The aftermath

A few years later, Emily Ratajkowski’s fame skyrocketed not only in modeling, but also in Hollywood. News came to Ratajkowski that a book was being sold with her name on it. Priced at $80, Leder had exposed some vulgar and revealing shots from their unfortunate day together. 

“I was livid and frantic. New articles about the book, accompanied by images, were popping up hourly. My fingers went numb as I read the comments from eager customers on Jonathan’s page.” Leder’s fame skyrocketed following the release of the book. This also included the publishing company, known as Imperial Publishing, which Leder set up with its sole purpose to release the exposing book.

Ratajkowski had faith that the law would be on her side and all of this would disappear. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case. “Even if we did “win” in court, all it would mean was that I’d come into possession of the books and maybe, if I was lucky, be able to ask for a percentage of the profits.”

Leder’s book, simply titled, Emily Ratajkowski sold out and reprinted a handful of times. Comments from the public were humiliating to the model even though Emily had no say in its release. A gallery even opened for an event to showcase the revealing polaroids. 

“Years passed, and Jonathan released a second book of my images, then a third. He had another show at the same gallery. I looked him up online occasionally; I almost felt like I was checking in on a part of me, the part of me he now owned. For years, while I built a career, he’d kept that Emily in the drawers of his creaky old house, waiting to whore her out. It was intoxicating to see what he’d done with this part of me he’d stolen.”

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Since Emily’s article has dropped I have been a wreck. Reading her words and the ways in which she described Jonathan instantly brought me to tears. I was in a state of panic before I could even finish the article. I have written and rewritten a statement over and over again these past five days. Then slept for 24 hours due to the fear of crossing someone who basically stole my youth. I have been carrying around the pain and trauma of Jonathan and his abuse for a decade now. I have gone so far as changing my name because in my mind he owned it and I could not look at that name without seeing him. Everything in Emily’s article felt so familiar, it felt as if he was there standing behind me as I read it with his body pressing into my back, daring me to challenge him. I have spent ten plus years emotionally tied to my abuser, unable to let him fully go because at seventeen he broke me down and built me back up into his own image, an image I have been at war with ever since. But for the first time I am able to publicly say, Jonathan Leder was my abuser and that is thanks to Emily Ratajkowski and her bravery. Emily, I am so sorry that this man hurt you. I wish I had the strength then to warn you. But you speaking out has already helped me in my own healing and for that I will be forever grateful. I am so unbelievably struck by your courage and your incredible ability to recount a truly harrowing moment in your life in such a thoughtful and insightful way. It is your strength that has inspired me to share with everyone that I am the “Crazy Actress” Jonathan Leder spoke about that night. I am sad that during my friendship with Emily we were too afraid to share our abuse and it is just another demonstration of the long-lasting hold someone can have on you when they’re in a position of power. However, I am so grateful that we are moving into a space where men are being held accountable for their predatory and damaging behaviour. It’s women like you Em that give us all strength to tell our own stories. The last five days have brought up old wounds and a lot of pain which will hopefully lead to an enormous amount of healing. Thank you Emily.

A post shared by Nola Palmer (@nolanonsense) on Sep 21, 2020 at 6:46am PDT

Buying Myself Back

Ratajkowski hasn’t given up and is determined to take control of her life & image. “Eventually, Jonathan will run out of “unseen” crusty Polaroids, but I will remain as the real Emily; the Emily who owns the high-art Emily, and the one who wrote this essay, too. She will continue to carve out control where she can find it.”

Ratajkowski isn’t the only woman to come forward with allegations against Jonathan Leder. Actor Nora Palmer took to Instagram to claim that Leder had also traumatically impacted Palmer’s life. “[ . . . ] at seventeen he broke me down and built me back up into his own image, an image I have been at war with ever since.”

Jonathan has dismissed Ratajkowski’s claims as “too tawdry and childish to respond to.”

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What do you have to say about Emily Ratajkowski’s essay Buying Myself Back? Let us know in the comments below.w