Kanye West is facing another lawsuit. On Nov. 22, former “America’s Next Top Model” contestant Jenn An’s lawyers filed a complaint against the rapper in New York federal court. In the lawsuit, the model claims that West staged “his own production” while filming the music video for La Roux’s “In for the Kill” remix featuring West. An alleges that West instructed a camera crew to film him choking her.
As reported by Rolling Stone and TheWrap, the filling explains that An was working as a background actress for the music video, which was shot in New York City’s Chelsea Hotel in September 2010. According to the suit, she was dressed in “revealing lingerie” when West allegedly singled her out, telling the crew, “Give me the Asian girl.”
An stated that she responded to West by saying, “I’m not wearing very much,” to which he allegedly replied, “That’s why I chose you.” She also recalled that he directed the other background actors to leave the room.
She recalls West “towering over” her “breathing heavily” before directing the camera crew to get a close-up of her face and using a “gyrating hand” motion to “emulate forced oral sex” on her in the video.
“On camera, defendant West began to choke [the] plaintiff with one hand. He then wrapped his other hand around her neck and continued to strangle her with both hands,” the lawsuit claims, per Rolling Stone. “He then rammed several fingers down her throat, continuously moved them in and out, and gagged her.”
As he assaulted An “in a manner similar to pornographic gagging/deep throat/BDSM fetishes,” the rapper allegedly yelled, “This is art. This is f–king art. I am like Picasso.”
“Plaintiff struggled to breathe and felt as if she had temporarily blacked out,” the suit continued. “When defendant West decided that he was finished with the plaintiff, her face was covered in saliva and smeared makeup.”
Arguing that West violated New York’s Gender-Motivated Violence Act, a law that allows victims of gender-motivated violence to submit civil suits against their perpetrators, An is seeking a jury trial and requesting punitive damages, reimbursement for legal expenses, and compensation for “mental, emotional and physical injury, distress, pain and suffering and injury to reputation.”
The lawsuit also cites Universal Music Group (UMG) as a co-defendant, as the company allegedly “failed to investigate” the incident. Claiming the company “systematically discriminates against women by continuing to work with artists with well-documented histories of sexual harassment and discrimination,” An’s attorney also claims affiliate labels like Interscope Records and “other high-profile figures within the industry” tried to “‘bury’ the incident.”
Neither West nor An appeared in the finalized music video.
An’s lawsuit is the latest legal complaint filed against the rapper in recent months. As previously reported by theGrio, former Yeezy employee Murphy Aficionado recently filed a lawsuit against the rapper citing claims of harassment and failure to provide the plaintiff with his due wages. Similarly, West’s former assistant, Lauren Pisciotta, initially filed a wrongful termination lawsuit in June, alleging that the rapper sexually harassed her and fired her after she refused his advances. In October, she expanded her complaint to include additional claims of sexual assault, a hostile work environment, fraud, breach of contract, and further disturbing details about the alleged harassment.
