By now, you’d think celebrities would stop making a fool of themselves with hashtag campaigns that miss the point and seemingly accomplish very little. And yet, they simply won’t stop. The latest, the #StopHateForProfit campaign is attempting to take a stand against the propaganda, misinformation, and extremism that is spread on Facebook and Instagram. #StopHateForProfit was founded by a coalition of civil rights groups including the NAACP and Color of Change, with the stated goal of “holding social media companies accountable for hate on their platforms.”
As part of the campaign’s “Week of Action,” Kim Kardashian, Demi Lovato, Kerry Washington, Leonardo DiCaprio, and a variety of other celebrities have posted on social media pledging to do a 24-hour “freeze” on their Instagram and Facebook accounts on Wednesday, September 16.
Because you know what historically has been a catalyst for long term political change? A bunch of celebrities and wealthy people staging a boycott for one single day. Nothing makes a statement like people who could afford to divest entirely from social media sites (if they really believe that they’re a threat to democracy, of course) instead choosing only to take a 24-hour stand that likely won’t create any long term change—but gee, at least it doesn’t require Kim Kardashian and other celebrities to take a potential loss of income by losing out on advertising partnerships and opportunities to promote their own businesses on the platforms. Because how else would we learn about the latest SKIMS drop?
It may seem harsh, but the Facebook ad boycott started by #StopHateForProfit over this summer not only didn’t work, but the company’s ad revenue actually increased over that period. To really hold a company as powerful as Facebook accountable for the role it plays in spreading propaganda and misinformation, it’ll take much more than wealthy people logging out of Instagram for a day. [Verge]
Model and actress Emily Ratajkowski is claiming that she was sexually assaulted at the age of 20 by photographer Jonathan Leder. In the essay where she makes these allegations, “Buying Myself Back,” Ratajkowski reflects on what consent and ownership over her identity and her image mean as a model and actress. It’s centered around the story of the books of photographs that bear her name, photographs which were taken by photographer Jonathan Leder. Although Ratajkowski has previously spoken out about her disapproval of the publishing of Leder’s book, this new essay is the first time she’s claimed that Leder sexually assaulted her after the 2012 photoshoot in his Catskills home.
According to Ratajkowski, she accepted several glasses of wine before the shoot, early in her career and wanting to make a good impression. She’d been told it was important to earn a reputation as “hardworking and easygoing.”
After being photographed in lingerie, Ratajkowski claims, Leder said, “Let’s try naked now.”
“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.”
After the shoot, Ratajkowski says she was sitting on the couch under a blanket with Leder when he allegedly sexually assaulted her.
“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,” she 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.”
After leaving the shoot, Ratajkowski says she “tucked the images and Jonathan somewhere deep in [her] memory,” trying not to think about what happened that night. But the story was brought to the surface a few years later, when she found out that Leder was publishing a photo book of images he took of her that evening. Ratajkowski worked with her agent and lawyer to try to get the publication of the book stopped, sending cease-and-desist letters to both the publishing company putting out the book and a gallery that was holding a show of the photographs, but at the time she didn’t have the financial resources to pursue a lawsuit. And at that point, the images were already out in the world.
A representative for Imperial Publishing, the company responsible for publishing Jonathan Leder’s multiple books of photographs of Ratajkowski, gave this statement to Page Six in response to Ratajkowski’s allegations.
“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,” the 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.”
That’s definitely not at all a condescending and cruel way to talk about the person whose image has made you what I would assume is quite a lot of money, and who claims in the essay that neither she nor her agent ever signed the release that gave Leder permission to use the photographs for his multiple books. It is incredibly violating, that the person who allegedly sexually assaulted Ratajkowski waited until she had attained some fame to use the photos he’d taken of her to make himself money—money which Ratajkowski hasn’t seen a dime of. [Page Six]
- Brandi Glanville is finally telling her side of the affair she allegedly had with Denise Richards back in 2018. [Page Six]
- Neil Patrick Harris revealed that he and his whole family had covid-19 last spring. [NBC]
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez brought her french bulldog with her to work at the Capitol. [NY Post]