Entertainment

Kate Upton Says She Was Pressured To Keep Quiet About Sexual Assault Allegations [VIDEO]

(Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images for Michael Kors)

Katie Jerkovich Entertainment Reporter
Font Size:

Kate Upton said she was pressured by people to keep quiet about sexual assault allegations against Guess co-founder Paul Marciano as a young model.

“I was 18 years old and everybody around me is telling me to… they’re pushing me to not tell my story. It’s better to keep things in the dark because everyone is incentivized by me getting on set, the agents, everybody gets paid if I show up on set,” the 25-year-old Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model shared during her appearance Friday on “Good Morning America.”

WATCH:

“So you’re constantly pushed to show up on set no matter what happens, and they’re bringing up examples of other women who are fine with this behavior and have really successful careers,” she added. “So you’re subtly being pushed to be there. And then you’re also having doubt in your mind of how I acted. Did I ask for this treatment? But you didn’t. This is their behavior and I think that the women who came out before and after me really prove that.”

Earlier this week, Upton shared that Marciano sexually and emotionally harassed her in a Time magazine interview. She said at a meeting he grabbed her boobs, claiming he wanted to make sure “they’re real.” Then, he grabbed the back of her head and started forcibly kissing her and face and neck so she couldn’t move.

The super model admitted she was “going back and forth” about her telling her story cause it’s always “easier to leave things in the past,” but after she did a workout with a handful of new models for fashion week, she realized she wanted to prevent what happened to her from happening to them.

WATCH MORE:

Marciano has denied the allegations.