Linda Evangelista, 58, recalls being pressured into taking NUDE photos when she was just 16 years old – as she admits harrowing moment almost made her ‘GIVE UP’ modeling

• The Canadian, 58, is appearing in Apple TV+ documentary The Super Models
• She said she ‘freaked out’ after being asked to take her clothes off in Japan
• Elsewhere, Evangelista also claimed that ex-husband Gérald Marie abused her 

Linda Evangelista has candidly revealed how she was pressured into taking nude photographs at just 16 years old.

The Canadian, now 58, made the shocking disclosure during Apple TV+ documentary The Super Models.

She said she ‘freaked out’ after being asked to take her clothes off for a modeling contract in Japan. 

Elsewhere in the program, Evangelista also claimed that ex-husband Gérald Marie abused her during their five-year marriage.

Canadian supermodel Linda Evangelista , now 58, has revealed how she was pressured into taking nude photos at age 16 in new Apple TV+ documentary The Super Models 

She said she ‘freaked out’ after being asked to take her clothes off for a modeling contract aged just 16 (pictured in 1985, at age 20) 

In the upcoming series, Evangelista disclosed: ‘It’s ironic that my parents let me go to Japan when I was 16 on a modeling contract. 

‘They wouldn’t let me go on the school ski trip but they would let me go to Japan.’

She continued: ‘When I got to Japan, the first thing they asked me about was nude photographs and they wanted to take all my measurements, take the clothes off.

‘They made a composite and it had my measurements on it and I didn’t want to take my clothes off. 

‘I kind of freaked out. I never should have went there by myself.’

The beauty, who was enrolled at age 12 in a local modeling school, concluded: ‘I went home. I sort of gave up.’

Meanwhile, the model claimed that her ex-husband, now 73, had abused her during their five-year marriage.

She was married to Marie between 1987 and 1993 – during which time he was the European chief of Elite Model Management. 

Discussing their relationship, Evangelista said: ‘I learned that maybe I was in the wrong relationship.

‘It’s easier said than done to leave an abusive relationship. I understand that concept, because I lived it. If it was just a matter of saying, “I want a divorce, see ya”… it doesn’t work that way.

Elsewhere in the program, Evangelista also claimed that ex-husband Gérald Marie abused her during their five-year marriage (pictured in 1991) 

‘He knew not to touch my face, not to touch the money-maker, you know?’

She continued: ‘I married him when I was 22 and I got out when I was 27 and he let me out as long as he got everything. But I was safe and I got my freedom.’

In 2020, Marie was accused of rape and sexual misconduct by seven women, with Evangelista admitting she believed their claims while praising their ‘courage and strength’. 

She went on to reveal that they had given her the ‘courage’ to speak out but that their allegations had ‘broke my heart.’ 

Evangelista stated in the documentary: ‘Thanks to the power of all these women coming forward, God bless all of them, it gave me the courage now to speak…

‘I would love that justice be served. I would love for a–holes like that to think twice and be afraid and I would love women to know that they’re not alone.’

In a statement to Apple TV+, Marie denied the claims of abuse and said he ‘has never committed the slightest act of violence.’

MailOnline has previously contacted Marie’s representatives for further comment. 

The Apple TV+ docuseries sees the runway queen open up about her illustrious career alongside fellow supermodels – Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell and Christy Turlington – as the legendary stars reflect on how they came to dominate the fashion industry. 

Evangelista (seen left in 1995 and right in 2022) broke down in tears while discussing the rare reaction she suffered after undergoing CoolSculpting, which left her ‘disfigured’

The catwalk sensation (sen in a promo shot for her new docuseries) has since undergone two liposuction surgeries in an attempt to fix the problem

However, the four-episode project also covers many of the struggles faced by the ladies – including Evangelista’s battle with depression after she suffered from a rare reaction to the procedure known as CoolSculpting, which was designed to decrease her fat cells, but instead, made them become enlarged.

Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, the project’s directors Roger Ross Williams and Larissa Bill revealed how the mother-of-one could be seen ‘processing her emotions in real time, on camera’ as she reflected on her ordeal. 

Roger opened up about filming Linda’s moving confessional as he stated: ‘It was such an emotional interview… She was saying she deserved it and I was like, “No, you don’t deserve this.” But it was what she felt. She was just so honest about it.’ 

Separate interviews were conducted with each model which gave them the chance to reflect on their lives and the iconic careers they’ve enjoyed, and Evangelista’s candid confessional became so emotional that the entire crew was left in sobbing. 

Roger, who won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Film in 2009, explained: ‘Larissa and I were in tears, and so was everyone in the crew. It was like an emotional interview from beginning to end, we were crying all the time. I’m surprised we even got anything.

‘She was letting so much out that she had never talked about before. You see her feeling guilty and processing in real time on camera, and that was an incredible interview.’ 

Evangelista spent six years ‘in hiding’ after her rare reaction, and previously told Vogue she was ‘so depressed’ that she ‘hated’ herself after being left ‘permanently deformed’ and ‘brutally disfigured.’ 

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