Ashley Graham Opens Up For the First Time About Sexual Harassment on Set at Age 17

Ashley Graham is opening up about a traumatic experience in her past. The 29-year-old supermodel got candid with Glamour magazine for her July cover story.

Though Graham is very confident in herself these days, back when she was 17 she experienced a very uncomfortable situation with a photo assistant on the set of a photo shoot. Graham told the story, admitting she’d never publicly shared it before.

WATCH: EXCLUSIVE: Ashley Graham Reveals How Relationship With Dad Influenced Her 'Incredible' Marriage


“He was like, ‘Hey, come here,’ and he led me into a closet. And I was like, ‘What?’ I thought he was going to show me something,” she recalled. “And he pulled me in, and he pulled his penis out. And he was like, ‘Grab it.’ And I was like, ‘No! That’s disgusting.’ I freaked out. And thank God I was closer to the door, and I just bolted out.”

So now, Graham is fully in charge of the photos she’s putting out, but that doesn’t mean she’s opposed to nudity.

“My thing is: If it’s vulgar, and it’s, like, me grabbing my breasts and showing nipple, I’m not going to do it,” she said. “When I said, ‘I don’t do nip and bush,’ I didn’t feel like I had to be specific as to what kind. So you might even see more nipple coming up. But trust me: You will never see my vagina!”

The confident Graham admitted to the mag that she still has times when she struggles with body positivity.

“Some days I feel like I have superpowers, but some days I feel like I’m the fattest girl in the world,” she said. “And I talk about my back fat and my cellulite because it’s important to have women in the media addressing the things that society has called flaws.”

WATCH: EXCLUSIVE: Ashley Graham Reveals How Her Mother Talked Her Out of Giving Up on Her Modeling Dreams


Graham added that when it comes to being called a sex symbol, she’s fully aware of her core audience.

“When I met with Eva Chen from Instagram, she told me that 75 percent of my followers are women,” the proud size 16 model said. “So if anyone wants to call me a sex symbol, it’s women. We are redefining sexy.”

For more from Graham, watch ET’s exclusive interview below!

Ashley Graham Says She Went on Her First Diet at Age 15

This video is unavailable because we were unable to load a message from our sponsors.

If you are using ad-blocking software, please disable it and reload the page.

Up Next

Related Gallery

Sexy Ladies of the 2017 'Sports Illustrated' Swimsuit Issue