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A private trove of Polaroids showing some of the world’s most famous model in various “states of undress” has gone missing, Page Six hears, causing some serious anxiety.
The set includes not-for-public-consumption shots of everyone from Gigi Hadid to Kim Kardashian to Martha Stewart, Kate Upton, Brittany Mahomes, Gayle King, Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Irina Shayk, Emily Ratajkowski, Megan Thee Stallion, Christie Brinkley, Chrissy Teigen, Kim Petras, Ashley Graham and anyone else who’s appeared on the storied pages of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition.
They appear to have gone AWOL as control of the magazine passed from one corporation to another.
Also missing: thousands of dollars worth of swimsuits that were loaned to the magazine by brands for its famous shoots.
The magazine’s new operator got the photographs along with photographic equipment, lights and other property needed to run to stories publication. CBS via Getty ImagesWhen Five Hour Energy drink billionaire Manoj Bhargava took over Sport Illustrated and its famed bikini spin-off in 2023, he got control of all the mag’s equipment, including cameras, lights and so on — as well as the swimsuits and the massive cache of photographs that are taken on almost all fashion magazine shoots for what are known as “sitting sheets”. (They’re important mostly for recording exactly what the model is wearing so that editors can include that information in the magazine later).
We’re told Bhargava moved everything into a new office in a building in his company’s New York headquarters.
But his tenure at the helm of the magazine blew up in spectacular fashion. After causing a staff revolt by firing a slew of star writers, his relationship with SI’s parent company ended in a series nasty lawsuits.
There are images of all the models who have ever appeared on the pages of the famed Swimsuit Issue. Getty Images for Sports Illustrated SwimsuitA new company took over the magazine in March.
But, it seems, they got lost in the corporate reshuffling, and SI’s staff never got the equipment — or the Polaroids — back.
Sources say that when they didn’t turn up, SI staffers asked Bhargava team about goods in an email in April. Apparently Bhargava’s people said they’d look into the matter. But then they went quiet.
The pictures are used for so-called “sitting sheets” which help editors keep track of which model wore which items. Instagram/@brittanylyneeIt’s now been months since SI heard from the other camp.
Sources say that the magazine simply replaced the equipment.
But the absent images are causing some serious worry.
We’re told that, because they’re not intended for publication, the models are often in “vulnerable” states in the shots, and they often include nipples that would normally be omitted from the final images, sheer garments and “parts hanging out” that wouldn’t usually make it to print.
Sources say that the models only ever expected the all-female editorial staff to see the pictures.
Insiders say the Polaroids, along with other goods, weren’t returned after the deal ended. Getty Images for Sports IllustratedWe’re told the staff have asked for the goods back several times but Bhargava’s team has stopped responding.
“We’ve no idea where the Polaroids are,” said a decidedly panicky insider, “We don’t even know if they’re in New York.”
Sources say that there are thousands of missing pictures, and there could be more than a hundred of some models who have done several shoots with the magazine.
Meanwhile, swimwear brands — many of which, we’re told, are small businesses — are clamoring to get the items back that they loaned for the shoot.
We’re told the models only expected the magazine’s all-female editorial staff to see the pictures. WireImageBhargava didn’t get back to us. A rep for SI’s parent company declined to comment.
