A model who claims Kanye West choked her during a music video shoot has spoken out about the alleged 2010 incident, claiming that she was left feeling "suffocated, unsure and scared."
Jennifer An, who appeared on America's Next Top Model in 2009, is pursuing legal action against the rapper, now known as Ye, over the alleged assault.
Speaking to the BBC's Fame Under Fire podcast, Ms An described how Mr West allegedly grabbed her throat and inserted his fingers into her mouth in a manner that "simulated oral sex" while cameras rolled.
The rapper's legal team has not disputed that the encounter occurred.
However, his lawyers have characterised it as an "intense and provocative theatrical performance," claiming Mr West was attempting to recreate a scene from the film American Psycho.
GB News has contacted Mr West's representatives for comment.
Ms An was 24 years old when she secured a role in the US music video for La Roux's track In For The Kill. She says she had no idea Mr West would be present at the filming location.
Ms An alleges that upon arriving at New York's Chelsea Hotel, the rapper turned up unexpectedly and assumed control of the production before the alleged assault took place.
According to Ms An, crew members began frantically preparing when word spread that Mr West was approaching, with models subsequently arranged in a corridor for his arrival. She says the rapper then selected three women, including Ms An, to appear alongside him.
After struggling with his dialogue, Mr West allegedly repositioned Ms An in a chair facing the camera while he sat behind it, out of shot. I was given no direction.
"I was just told to sit in this chair," Ms An claimed. Once the alleged incident concluded, Ms An say she spoke with La Roux, whose real name is Elly Jackson, and received an apology from the singer.
Ms An says she reached out to La Roux again in 2024 via Instagram, asking whether she recalled what had happened.
The singer is said to have responded: "I could never forget that, it was horrific."
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The messages have been presented to the court as supporting evidence for Ms An's case.
In the Instagram exchange, which Fame Under Fire has seen, La Roux is said to have stated: "[West] knew exactly what he was doing, he thought it was funny."
The singer also claimed that Mr West whispered to her afterwards: "I bet you think I just put women back about 10 years."
La Roux claims she replied: "You just put women back about 500 years."Ms An filed her civil case against Mr West in late 2024 under New York City's Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act, legislation that temporarily extends time limits for sexual assault survivors to bring claims.
Mr West's legal team submitted a motion to dismiss the lawsuit earlier this year, arguing he should receive First Amendment protection because the encounter took place during the creation of expressive art.
His lawyers have contended that Ms An was "by all interpretations of her complaint... a consenting participant in the stage performance" and did not object or attempt to leave at any point.
Ms An's lawyer, Jesse Weinstein, warned that allowing such a defence would establish a "really dangerous precedent" permitting artists to "basically do whatever they want to, whomever they want in creative spaces, and get away with it as long as they call it art."
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