Kanye West accused former America’s Next Top Model contestant Jenn An of trying to silence him with a lawsuit over a 2010 alleged sexual assault on set, Us Weekly can exclusively report.
On August 19, West, 48, filed court docs seeking to dismiss An’s lawsuit, filed in November 2024, over an alleged incident while filming a 2010 music video.
The musician’s lawyer called out An for including information in her lawsuit about West’s recent “antisemitic messages” on X, touting Hitler, as well as numerous messages where he disregarded survivors of sexual assault.”
West’s lawyer told the court, “These alleged quotations bear no relevance to the claims in this case and are presented without meaningful context. Their inclusion should be considered as facts to support arguments regarding [An’s] motive to bring this lawsuit — to silence [West] for his controversial speech on matters of public concern.
Earlier in the filing, the “Flashing Lights” rapper’s lawyer argued that the production of the music video, “like many thousands of stage performances and motion pictures before it, included physical touching between the actors (here, West and [An]).”
Kanye West Mychal Watts/WireImage
The attorney continued, “At no point during the production did [An] object to her role, express a lack of consent to participate, nor attempt to leave the performance, nor does she claim such in her [lawsuit].”
West points out that the alleged assault took place in front of a crew and cameras. “To permit such claims to proceed would mean that every actor, director, and artist involved in provocative film, theater, or music video productions — whether depicting violence, sexuality, or both — could face retroactive criminalization and personal liability whenever a performer later regrets or reimagines their participation,” the rapper’s response read.
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In his filing, West accused An, who starred on season 13 of Tyra Banks’ former reality show America’s Next Top Model in 2009, of attempting to “punish his creative process and censor his art.”
West demanded that the suit be thrown out of court.
An’s lawyer, Jesse Weinstein, tells Us, “While Ye is certainly entitled to defend himself in this suit, we refuse to adopt his idea that sexually assaulting Ms. An was somehow justified as “art.” This was an unscripted moment that he took it upon himself to create, much to the dismay and shock of nearly everyone around him. He has clearly convinced himself that he is above the law and we will take him to task in this matter through the litigation process.”
In her suit, An explained she was hired as a background actor/model for singer La Roux’s music video for her song “In for the Kill.”
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West appeared on the remix and filmed a music video for the track in September 2010. An claimed West wanted the set to look like the film American Psycho.
The suit claimed West took over directing the video. An claimed West told her to sit in a chair. She said he instructed the cameraman to film while he choked her with one hand.
“He then wrapped his other hand around her neck and continued to strangle her with both hands,” the suit alleged. “West smothered [An’s] face with both of his hands, which smeared her makeup.”
Kanye WEst Theo Wargo/WireImage
“He then rammed several fingers down her throat, continuously moved them in and out and gagged her (which [An] believed lasted for over a minute) to emulate forced oral sex and screamed, ‘This is art. This is fucking art. I am like Picasso.’”
She said a third party on set “failed to intervene to stop the sexual assault, but instead yelled, ‘Yeah [An]!’ as if she were watching a sporting event.”
The suit claimed West’s actions “paralleled the recorded sexual assault scenes depicted in American Psycho, as well as pornographic’ fetish films.”
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An said she moved her tongue away from West’s “gyrating hand, started to panic, and looked around the set” hoping to “see anyone who could intervene.”
She said there was a room full of people but nobody helped. “During the assault, [An] struggled to breathe and felt as if she had temporarily blacked out. When West decided that he was finished with [An] her face was covered in saliva and smeared makeup.” An said she left the set.
Her suit alleged, [An] continues to cope with the trauma and negative impact on her career stemming from West’s assault.” She sued seeking unspecified damages for the alleged emotional pain and suffering she has experienced.
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