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Paulina Porizkova is exposing some dark secrets of the high-fashion world, claiming that her rise to superstardom was paved with uncomfortable encounters.
The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit legend, now 60, detailed the normalization of sexual harassment she allegedly faced as a teenager, saying the very people tasked with managing her career often sent her into compromising situations.
“I started modeling at 15 in Paris on a summer break from school,” Porizkova shared in a video clip posted to Instagram. “And every day I was sent on four to 10 so-called ‘go-and-sees.’ You go, and they see — all over the city — by myself, with no knowledge of the language or the city.”
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The Czechoslovakia-born model explained that while some meetings were professional, many others were far from it.
“Sometimes the people I was seeing were well-dressed and in offices, and sometimes they were middle-aged guys in messy apartments who just wanted to take a few casual photos of me — you know, preferably topless,” she said. “I’ve lost count of the amount of men in open bathrobes who greeted me in their hotel rooms or apartments where I have been sent by an agency or clients.”
Porizkova, who made history in 1984 as the first Central European woman to land a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover, noted that the advances were not limited to messy apartments.
She recalled well-dressed older men frequently inviting her to parties, yachts and tropical villas.
For years, the supermodel believed these encounters were simply part of the paycheck.
“I took it all for granted,” Porizkova admitted. “That my job was to take my clothes off, put my clothes back on, and then learn how to creatively fend off horny men so that you don’t offend them and lose a job.”
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It wasn’t until the 1990s, while watching a segment on Oprah Winfrey’s talk show about sexual harassment in the workplace, that she realized her own experiences qualified as harassment.
“I looked at my girlfriend and said, ‘That’s sexual harassment? I thought that was compliments,’” she recalled.
Reflecting on her vulnerability as a child in a high-stakes industry, the “No Filter: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful” author emphasized how easily children can be manipulated by those in power.
“When you take a child, and you put them in any situation, that child will adapt. If an adult tells you that this is how it’s supposed to be, well, then who are you, the child, to protest? And this makes the child the easiest target,” she said. “And if you’re unsure of how old exactly a child is to be a child, well, then you either don’t have one or you don’t have the humanity to remember being one.”
The supermodel captioned her social media post with the hashtags “#Epstein,” “#EpsteinFiles” and “#Justice.”
Porizkova’s illustrious career includes serving as the face of Estée Lauder and appearing as a judge on “America’s Next Top Model” alongside Tyra Banks. Over a 41-year career, she has appeared in 11 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issues.
She has also transitioned into a successful writing career, releasing her debut novel, “A Model Summer,” in 2007 and her candid nonfiction book in 2022, “No Filter.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to Porizkova for comment.
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