Emily Ratajkowski has garnered acclaim for addressing male sexual assault victims and the biases they endure, asserting that this is what has enabled Diddy to ‘hide in plain sight’.
The model and Gone Girl actress has recently utilized TikTok to discuss Diddy’s arrest in conjunction with the release of the controversial Netflix series Monsters, which delves into the stories of Lyle and Erik Menendez.
Diddy faces several grave charges, including rape and sexual abuse.
Allegations suggest that Lyle and Erik Menendez also endured such abuses from their father, which reportedly influenced their decision to murder their parents in August 1989.
Against this backdrop, Ratajkowski has drawn parallels between the two cases while discussing male sexual assault victims.
“With everything that’s coming out about Diddy and the allegations and also this new Menendez brothers show called Monsters I think we need to have a conversation about male sexual assault,” the 33-year-old states in her video.
“The reason Diddy was able to hide in plain sight for so long was because so many of his victims are male and our culture views male sexual assault as extremely emasculating.”
She further noted that during his 1996 trial, one of the Menendez brothers was questioned regarding his sexuality, which Ratajkowski believes was intended to insinuate that ‘he wanted it’.
“Being asked if he’s gay because of what his father did to him, because he was a victim of sexual assault. It’s really really scary,” the We Are Your Friends star elaborated.
Ratajkowski also pointed out that victims often perpetuate the cycle ‘because they could not talk about their experience and process it healthily’.
She cited R. Kelly as an example; the fallen rapper has been convicted of multiple charges involving child sexual abuse.
The ‘Ignition’ singer was reportedly abused himself as a child.
Ratajkowski added, “To be clear, I’m not making excuses for these people, I’m just saying there are ways we can stop the cycle from happening.”
People have since praised the model for initiating a conversation about the biases faced by male sexual assault victims.
“Thanks for being one of the few celebrities to talk about this,” one TikTok follower commented.
“Thank you for speaking abt this I love you so much [sic],” another person echoed.
Another individual remarked that the mom-of-one ‘couldn’t have explained it better’.
If you’ve been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7. Alternatively, you can chat online via online.rainn.org