Kanye West‘s alleged sexual assault of model Jennifer An has more details with the newest court filings.
The alleged event happened on the 2010 set of a La Roux music video. La Roux has also commented about the event in text messages to An.
An’s Complaint Against West
Jennifer An, a finalist on America’s Next Top Model in 2009, alleged that Kanye West arrived on the music video set at the Chelsea Hotel in September 2010 and immediately complained. He wanted the set to be more like the set from American Psycho.
An’s filing added that West, who had a cameo in the music video, took creative control and choked and strangled her first with one hand. The, he did it with both while on camera.
The complaint states:
“Next, Defendant WEST smothered Plaintiff’s face with both of his hands, which smeared her makeup. He then rammed several fingers down her throat, continuously moved them in and out, and gagged her (which Plaintiff believed lasted for over a minute) to emulate forced oral sex, and screamed, ‘This is art. This is f—ing art. I am like Picasso.’ During the assault, Plaintiff struggled to breathe and felt as if she had temporarily blacked out.”
An and Jackson Text Messages
Jennifer An filed her lawsuit against West in 2024.
The new filing, however, includes an Instagram DM exchange between La Roux (Elly Jackson) and An. The singer backs up the allegations against Kanye West, and shares her own memories of dealing with him in the aftermath of the music video.
Jackson wrote, “I could never forget that, it was horrific. How can I help?”
She added, “I have never seen the footage (thankfully) and obviously I asked for it to never be used or for it to be seen as you were understandably very concerned about anyone or your family seeing it… I have no problem being honest about what I saw, so if you need my account of the event I’m more [than] happy to do that.”
Jackson expressed that she was “so sorry it happened” to An, and while she wanted to speak on the alleged incident, she believed that it was An’s story to share on her own time.
Jackson brought up another event with the artist, too. When she told a mutual friend of hers and West’s that she saw “upsetting, unsettling behavior” on set, West went on the defensive.
He later “demanded” she apologize in writing, and that “he wanted to remind [Jackson] of his power and status and threatened [her] with [her] career essentially.”
West’s Rebuttal
West’s lawyers have filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming that because his behavior “occurred in the course of producing expressive” art, he should then be protected by free speech.
The filing added, “The emulation of sexual violence for artistic purposes is not itself sexual violence, and the presence of physical contact in a staged performance does not transform expressive conduct into a crime, let alone into gender-motivated violence.”
A member of An’s legal team fought back against West’s dismissal.
Jesse S. Weinstein, partner at Phillips & Associates, wrote in an email, “Labeling alleged sexual assault as ‘artistic expression’ does not place it beyond the reach of the law. Our filings present substantial corroborating evidence, and we believe the facts will speak clearly as this case proceeds.”
Other Perspectives
In the newest filing on March 10th, alongside the text messages from Jackson, An included another statement.
This one is from Jackson’s makeup artist, Liz Martins, who was also on set during the alleged assault.
Martins wrote, “All of a sudden, Kanye cleared the set, except for Jenn, and forcefully put his fingers down her mouth and told her to, ‘Suck on them.’ Kanye continued to motion his hands back and forth in Jenn’s mouth. This sexual assault was not a part of the script.”
She added, “Everyone on set was shocked and nervous to step in because of Kanye’s influence. Afterwards, Jenn was crying and I heard her repeatedly say, ‘My mom is going to see this. I don’t want my mom to see this.’ … It is my strong belief that Kanye West targeted and sexually assaulted Jenn because she is a female.”