Photographer Vitaliy Grechin is holding an online auction to sell an unseen footage shot just before 20 Ukrainian and Russian women posed for him on a balcony in Dubai in nothing but their birthday suits.
Grechin, a donor to former President Barack Obama, and 13 of the female participants were held in a "hell" jail in Dubai after photos of the shoot became talk of town in April. Other participants managed to flee from the United Arab Emirates before they could be arrested for public indecency. They are still wanted by police.
Grechin said that he is cashing in on the scandalous incident to recoup the "extortionate" fines and legal costs spent on freeing the women, himself and Russian businessman Alexei 'Alex' Kontsov, in whose flat the shoot was done, reported Daily Star.
He said that the costs are still going up and may end up amounting to half a million dollars. The photographer is also offering the rights for those women to "star in a music video, a promotional campaign, or a TV show."
The women have been described as models, but Grechin said that all are his "friends" and shared that they include a banker, real estate manager, school teacher, musician, artist, choreographer and fashion designer.
While the balcony image was considered offensive by many in Dubai, Grechin described it as "art," and denied the photo was in any way pornographic. The video that's up for auction features the women inside a penthouse. It was shot by one of the women who fled Dubai. "No one has seen this high-quality video, which clearly shows the immediate events leading up to the photo shoot," he said.
"This video has never been published so has only been seen by the current owner. It will now be exclusively owned and viewable by the auction winner, who can use it, distribute it, or sell it as they see fit."
Grechin was in jail for 22 days and 15 days in Covid-19 isolation after he allegedly tested positive while in detention.
On the nude photo, he said when he was in jail, "Of course, I regret it. I lost a month of my life."
After the nude photo went viral, Dubai’s Attorney General Essam Issa al-Humaidan announced that those behind it would be sent back to their countries, according to New York Post.
Though their names were not revealed, one was identified as Yana Graboshchuk, a 27-year-old model from Ukraine.
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