Body shaming another person goes beyond just a mean girl mentality; it says way more about the person doing the shaming then the target of ridicule. Dani Mathers, 2015’s Playboy Playmate of the Year, is finding out just how horrible and heinous public humiliation can be after she was slammed (rightfully so) for posting a naked image of an unsuspecting gym goer in the locker rooms of her LA Fitness gym in Universal City, CA. To add insult to injury, she mocks the woman’s nude body while violating her privacy by sharing the snap with her followers.
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@DaniMathers Seriously? You love empowering women? Does this look like empowerment? GIRL. Just stop. pic.twitter.com/BglwhW7lIP
— Bonnie Reynolds (@bonniereynolds) July 14, 2016
Mathers posted the image of the woman, who appears to be showering in the gym locker room, on her Snapchat with the caption: “If I can’t unsee this then you can’t either.” She also posted a photo of herself laughing with her mouth covered to indicate disgust she’d experienced by looking at the vulnerable woman’s naked body. The invasion of privacy, lack of consent and overall mean-spiritedness of her post was not lost on the public. Scores of commenters, including famed plus size model Tess Holiday, took to Twitter to slam the playmate for her insensitivity and body-shaming behavior.
@DaniMathers it must be nice to be so perfect that you feel like you can publicly shame other bodies. Please educate yourself.
— ⚡️Tess Holliday⚡️ (@Tess_Holliday) July 14, 2016
@DaniMathers NO EXCUSES THIS IS ILLEGAL AND YOU SHOULD BE CHARGED
— and/or (@tricksterfaux) July 14, 2016
The awful part about #danimathers? That woman isn’t even fat. She’s likely “average” sized.
— LadyData Karen Lopez (@datachick) July 14, 2016
In a series of tweets, the model attempted to apologize while stating that the images were uploaded accidently. In a series of tweets on her now deleted Twitter page, she claims she meant to send the images directly to a friend (insert side eye) mistakenly posted the snap on her story instead. “I understand fully the magnitude of this post that I have hurt a lot of people, women. Body shaming is not OK, and is nothing to joke about,” said Mathers. She also made a public apology that was posted to YouTube. Many YouTubers were quick to point out that the model seemed unremorseful and probably wouldn’t have apologized had she not faced the wrath of the public.
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The backlash against the playmate has been far reaching; TMZ is reporting that she has lost her longtime radio gig at KLOS-FM on the “Heidi and Frank” show. LA Fitness has also come forward, issuing the model a lifetime ban from its gyms and stating that they’ve notified the Los Angeles Police Department of her violation of privacy. Mathers may also be facing legal action for her nonconsensual snap.
