Emily Ratajkowski Draws Parallels Between Monsters and Diddy Trial

Photo: Gotham/GC Images

Emily Ratajkowski went on social media to point out the connections between the sensationalized portrayal of the Menendez brothers on Ryan Murphy’s Monsters and the open secret of Diddy’s history of alleged sexual assault. “I think we need to have a conversation about male sexual assault,” she said. Ratajkowski noted that many of Diddy’s alleged victims are male: “Diddy was able to hide in plain sight for so long,” she says, “because our culture views male sexual assault as extremely emasculating.” This parallels the dehumanizing treatment Erik and Lyle Menendez received from the media in the 90’s, from the justice system, and now from Monsters. In the new show, Erik and Lyle are portrayed as being in a homosexual, incestuous relationship, something Erik has strenuously denied.

Ratajkowski asserts that the silence around male sexual assault also contributes to some abused people later becoming perpetrators, citing R. Kelly and author Junot Diaz as being a part of that cycle. “And 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,” she says. “I’ve seen it in my own life, with men that I’ve known, who’ve had really unhealthy sexual tendencies and behaviors, and they’re like ‘Oh, that’s just how guys are. We just naturally have these weird sexual inclinations that women don’t.’ Which is such an excuse. And then it comes out that they have experienced sexual assault.”

In the text of her TikTok, Ratajkowski points to Baby Reindeer as a show that explores the issue of male sexual assault. The series creator Richard Gadd, Brendan Fraser, and Reacher’s Alan Ritchson have all come forward in the past few years as survivors.