Kanye West allegedly choked a model with both hands and subjected her to “pornographic gagging” as she gasped for air on the set of a La Roux music video being filmed at Manhattan’s Chelsea Hotel in 2010, a new lawsuit claims.
In a complaint filed Friday in federal court in New York and obtained by Rolling Stone, plaintiff Jenifer An says she was dressed in lingerie and working as a background actor for La Roux’s “In for the Kill” video when West arrived on set, pointed to her and said, “Give me the Asian girl.” An, a former finalist on America’s Next Top Model, alleges West was “towering over” her and “breathing heavily” when he subsequently directed the camera crew to zoom on her face as he staged “his own production” without any resistance.
“On camera, defendant West began to choke plaintiff with one hand. He then wrapped his other hand around her neck and continued to strangle her with both hands,” the lawsuit alleges. “He then rammed several fingers down her throat, continuously moved them in and out, and gagged her.”
An says West used his fingers “to emulate forced oral sex” as he allegedly screamed, “This is art. This is fucking art. I am like Picasso.” The lawsuit claims West assaulted An “in a manner similar to pornographic gagging/deep throat/BDSM fetishes.”
As she panicked under West’s “gyrating hand,” An says she looked around the room, hoping someone would intervene. She alleges no one helped her. “Plaintiff struggled to breathe and felt as if she had temporarily blacked out. When defendant West decided that he was finished with plaintiff, her face was covered in saliva and smeared makeup,” the lawsuit states.
An names Universal Music Group as a co-defendant in the lawsuit, claiming the company arranged West’s planned cameo in the video and later “failed to investigate” or take action. The model has accused West of sexual assault and strangulation and is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
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Reps for West, UMG, and La Roux did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s requests for comment.
The new lawsuit comes after West, also known as Ye, was sued last week by a former Yeezy staffer who claims West subjected him to antisemitic tirades and forced him to sit in a hotel suite while West engaged in loud sex in an adjoining room with wife Bianca Censori on one occasion and a masseuse on another. His legal woes don’t end there. West has been the subject of a wave of complaints filed after his antisemitic rants posted on his social media accounts in October 2022 sparked widespread criticism and the end of his lucrative partnerships with Gap and Adidas.
Last June, his former assistant Lauren Pisciotta filed a lawsuit alleging West sent her sexually explicit messages and masturbated in front of her during an unrelenting campaign of sexual harassment. In October, Pisciotta added new claims to the lawsuit, alleging West drugged and sexually assaulted her.
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Upon filing her lawsuit Friday, An issued a statement saying she hopes that by speaking up, her voice will help create a “safer world” for artists. “Women in the music and entertainment industries have been subject to sexual abuse for years with no recourse to speak out or implement change. This space is a dangerous place for women. We are essentially objects in the entertainment world. The industries have thrived on placing us in abusive power dynamics. Outside of creating legal precedent, survivors of sexual assault have nothing. I hope to hold the abusers accountable through the legal system,” An said.
An’s lawyers Christine Hintze, Melissa Berouty, and Jesse Weinstein praised An for courage. “Everyone’s voice is important, and West cannot escape liability because of his success and notoriety,” Weinstein said in a statement.
