Emily Ratajkowski joked she was her boyfriend Romain Gavras's "groupie" while attending the MTV VMAs in Los Angeles on Sunday night. The 35-year-old model skipped the red carpet but shared a series of photographs on Instagram on Monday, showing off a red and black dress with extreme cut-outs at the sides.
Beneath the racy dress, Ratajkowski went braless, putting on what was described as a sizzling display. She shared an image of her backstage pass, which labelled her as a "plus one" for the event, prompting her joke in the caption about being a groupie for the 45-year-old French director. She noted that she had "the best time" at the award ceremony.
Although the couple did not pose together on the red carpet, they were seen sitting together in the audience. Gavras kept a low profile, wearing a black baseball cap and sunglasses.
The MTV Video Music Awards is one of the most prominent events in the American music industry calendar, established in 1984 to honour the best in the music video medium. Ratajkowski, who rose to international prominence in 2013, frequently attends such high-profile industry events.
The couple's appearance in Los Angeles follows a recent trip to Rome, where they were seen holding hands and kissing in the street while walking to a romantic lunch date. Ratajkowski and Gavras were first linked in November, when they were spotted kissing in New York City. They made their relationship public on Instagram in February.
Romain Gavras and his film career
This is Ratajkowski's longest romantic relationship since she divorced film producer Sebastian Bear-McClard in 2022. Gavras, who has a reported net worth of $5 million (4 million pounds), was born in Paris and is the son of the renowned Greek-French film director Costa-Gavras, known for his political thrillers.
Gavras has built a successful career directing both music videos and feature films, work that has seen him travel the world. He received a Grammy nomination in 2013 for his work on the music video for "No Church in the Wild", a hit song by Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Frank Ocean.
His second feature film, "The World Is Yours", was screened at the Directors' Fortnight during the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. The annual event in France is one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world. A subsequent film, "Athena", premiered at the 79th Venice International Film Festival, which is the oldest film festival globally.
Recent projects and past relationships
In September, Gavras premiered his latest film, "Sacrifice", at the Toronto International Film Festival. The Canadian festival is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world and a major event for the industry. The film marks Gavras's English-language debut and stars actress Anya Taylor-Joy as a crazed zealot who plans to sacrifice three important people to save the world from destruction.
Before dating Ratajkowski, Gavras was in a relationship with the singer Dua Lipa. The couple split in 2023 after dating for eight months.
He previously dated Rita Ora, a singer and judge on the television show "The Voice Australia". They began dating in 2020 and enjoyed a whirlwind romance, taking holidays together in Ibiza and Corfu. Their relationship sparked engagement rumours when Ora was seen wearing a large rock on her finger, but the couple broke up during the Covid lockdowns.
