Thousands of Polaroids taken of former Sports Illustrated Swimsuit models ‘in various states of undress’ have disappeared, sparking panic.
The ‘vulnerable’ images of models and celebs disappeared amid a bungled corporate reshuffle when the magazine changed hands and were last seen in New York.
The pictures reportedly feature a wide array A-listers including: Kim Kardashian, Emily Ratajkowski, Gigi Hadid, Martha Stewart, Gayle King, Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Irina Shayk, Megan Thee Stallion, Christie Brinkley, Chrissy Teigen, Kim Petras, Ashley Graham.
The ‘not for public consumption’ snaps are said to include wardrobe malfunctions which mean there are body parts visible through sheer garments or ‘hanging out’ that would normally be omitted in final images.
‘We’ve no idea where the Polaroids are,’ an insider told Page Six, ‘We don’t even know if they’re in New York.’
The source added that the models believed the Polaroids would only ever be seen by SI’s all-female editorial staff.
The images are taken as part of ‘sitting sheets’ which record exactly what models are wearing so it can be reported later.
They reportedly vanished along with thousands of dollars worth of designer swimsuits loaned to the outlet for its photoshoots.
The mishap allegedly occurred during a transfer of ownership from Five Hour Energy drink billionaire Manoj Bhargava.
Bhargava took control of SI and its swimsuit arm last year and relocated all the magazine’s equipment and photographs to his New York headquarters.
However, his tenure ended explosively after he fired several of the outlet’s star writers and became embroiled in a series of thorny lawsuits with SI’s parent company.
It was reportedly during the transfer back that the Polaroids and garments went missing.
Sources claim that ‘hundreds’ of photos could be missing of some individual models who have appeared in the magazine multiple times.
They added that SI asked Bhargava for the items back and he promised to look into it, but has since gone quiet.
Bhargava came to the helm after the owners of Sports Illustrated fired former CEO Ross Levinsohn after the outlet was accused of publishing AI-generated writing while using headshots of fake authors and creating bogus profiles.
The Arena Group Holdings, which owns the 79-year-old periodical, made the announcement after a board of directors meeting ‘to improve the operational efficiency and revenue of the company.’
Levinsohn, 59, had served as CEO and publisher of SI since 2019 and has run The Arena Group since 2020.
This year, Chrissy Teigen, Kate Upton, Hunter McGrady, Alix Earle, Ilhona Maher and Gayle King have all appeared on the cover of the magazine’s swimsuit edition.
King recently revealed a lot of people reached out to her after she posed for the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue recently.
The CBS Mornings co-host said that after she stripped down at age 69 for the recent issue, which was unveiled in May, ‘so many women’ told her the same thing.
‘I’ve had so many women come up to me and say, “That was so brave,”‘ she told People at the Through Her Lens: The Tribeca Chanel Women’s Filmmaker Program on Tuesday.
‘Was it brave? I was just excited. That’s what it was for me,’ she said. ‘To show you that it’s 69 and feeling really fine.’