A SEDUCTIVE pose, a lace robe draped over her elbows and a world famous bunny logo in the top right corner.
This was the publication that was supposed to change Emilie Rae’s life forever, but she could never have imagined the costs it would entail.
Emilie Raye has bravely opened up about her alleged encounter with Luis[/caption]
The model says she was lucky when she fled from a shoot[/caption]
Emilie, 31, felt like ‘Charlie in the chocolate factory’ when she was offered a ‘golden ticket’ to shoot with Luis, a photographer whose connections in the glamor industry seemed to run deep.
Luis contacted Emilie, a glamor model from Britain, via Instagram in 2020.
The photographer, based in Texas, US, said he came to Britain when Covid lockdown restrictions were lifted – and wanted to shoot Emilie for Playboy.
That message led to a photo shoot, which ultimately became the catalyst for a four-year investigation into abuse and exploitation within the glamor industry, detailed in my new podcast, The Bunny Trap.
Luis’ Instagram grid was full of photos he took of models on the covers of Playboy issues.
Emilie couldn’t believe her luck. The model had recently lost a high-paying TV modeling project due to the pandemic, and her OnlyFans earnings fell from the £8,000 a month she was initially bringing in, leaving her stuck with an expensive mortgage that she was worried about.
She thought this would be her chance to make it real – and Luis told her he could make her a star.
But Emilie claims her shoot with Luis turned into a nightmare, with the model claiming the photographer – who has not been charged or convicted of any crime – pressured her into increasingly explicit poses.
She says that despite thinking she was filming for Playboy, the shoot quickly turned pornographic, with Luis encouraging Emilie to use sex toys.
The Sun contacted Luis several times about Emilie and other models’ claims but received no response.
Emilie said: “I just thought ‘what’s going on?’ He physically came up to me, grabbed my hand and put it down somewhere. He was very aggressive.”
The model claims the shoot escalated to the point where Luis began recording video, which Emilie had not consented to, before he asked her to perform a sex act on him.
Emilie says she was fortunately able to escape the Airbnb they shot in, describing it as a “lucky escape.”
‘Intimidation and abuse’
Afterwards, Emilie posted about her experience on Instagram – without naming names – and said other models started coming forward and asking if she was talking about Luis.
The models came together and began sharing their stories of alleged harassment and abuse during shoots with Luis.
Many claimed they were pressured into situations they were uncomfortable with – and one model, Kiki Jay, claimed to have been sexually assaulted by Luis during a ‘Playboy’ shoot.
Kiki claims that Luis touched her inappropriately during the shoot and tried to kiss her, before exposing himself and trying to force Kiki to perform a sex act on him.
Kiki says she was “traumatized” and “burst into tears” during the alleged attack.
Kiki says she wanted to talk to the police after her shoot with Luis, but was encouraged by her friends, who said her career as a glamor model would work against her.
I just thought ‘what’s going on?’. He physically came up to me, took my hand and put it somewhere. He was very aggressive
Emilie Rae
Not long after the alleged assault, Kiki was contacted by Emilie, who had started a group chat for models who had allegations of abuse and harassment against Luis and wanted to take action, which Kiki describes as “music to my ears.”
The women in the group chat eventually contacted me and wanted me to investigate their claims of harassment and abuse – and hoped that their voices would finally be heard.
My research took me in directions I could never have predicted, from hearing the stories of a dozen British models who claimed to have had negative experiences with Luis during shoots, to uncovering a complicated web of alleged exploitation – both sexual as well as financial – that stretches the globe.
Our latest episode, available now, shows how Luis charges models thousands of dollars to appear in international Playboy editions, as part of an industry-wide practice known as ‘Pay For Play’.
Blacklisted
Kiki Jay claims she was touched inappropriately during a ‘Playboy’ shoot[/caption]
She is traumatized by the alleged abuse[/caption]
Digging deeper, we discover that many of these magazines are no longer in circulation and can only be purchased online, raising questions about whether anyone actually buys them.
Many of the models claim to have been paid huge sums of money – or pressured to use more explicit content – under the illusion that appearing in one of these magazines could be career-defining.
But our research shows that in many cases it was little more than online PDFs, which are likely to be seen by very few people.
We also learn how Luis charges models thousands of money to appear in other magazines, which we reveal is self-published and amounts to little more than a PDF booklet that can be downloaded online, for a fee paid directly to him seems to go.
We reached out to Luis several times for comment but never heard back.
We also reveal how Playboy told its international licensees to blacklist Luis in April 2019 after ‘pay-to-play’ allegations were brought to their attention – a full year before his UK tour, where he so-called ‘Playboy’ arranged. shoots with Emilie and many of the other models we spoke to.
How to report a sexual assault
- Contact a doctor or practice nurse at your GP practice.
- Contact a volunteer organization such as Rape crisis, Women’s Aid, Victim support, The Survivors Trust or Partnership for male survivors.
- Call 24 hours free National Domestic Abuse Hotline, operated by Refugeon 0808 2000 247.
- Talk to the Rape Crisis England and Wales rape and sexual abuse support line – you can call the helpline on 0808 500 2222 or use the online chat (both are free and open 24 hours a day, every day of the year).
Playboy said: “When Playboy becomes aware that certain photographers are engaging in pay-to-play practices, such as when it learned of [Luis] in April 2019, it acted without hesitation in support of women and ordered the licensee(s) to blacklist those specific photographers.
They added: “Playboy… expressly prohibits its international licensees… from accepting content from photographers or models on a pay-to-play basis.”
This revelation that Luis was still touting his alleged Playboy connections to meet and photograph with models a year after being blacklisted is a stark reminder of how little protection there is for the women working in an industry full of exploitation and abuse.
Devastatingly, this lack of regulation is becoming even more apparent as our investigation continues, as we uncover levels of exploitation that we could never have predicted.
The first four episodes of the Bunny Trap, produced by Novel, are now available on all podcast platforms. The remaining episodes appear weekly on Tuesdays.
Ellie Flynn’s podcast delves into the models’ alleged experiences[/caption]
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