Months after she got internet heat for taking a photo of a nude woman in the gym and then body-shaming her online, a former Playboy playmate is prepping for some legal trouble.
Dani Mathers took the photo in a private area of her local LA Fitness gym in early July.
"If I can't unsee this then you can't either," Mathers captioned the photo that she posted to Snapchat.
In the weeks that followed, Mathers made a mea culpa and said she would work with an anti-bullying organization to raise awareness on the pains of online bullying.
That never happened, and after the organization she agreed to work with reached out to her over five times, Mathers chose not to get involved.
"That was absolutely wrong and not what I meant to do," she said. "I know that body-shaming is wrong. That is not the type of person I am," Mathers eventually said in an apology.
After learning of the matter, LA Fitness banned Mathers from their member services.
On Friday, the city attorney of Los Angeles filed criminal charges against Mathers with cooperation from the 70-year-old woman in the photo.
“Body-shaming is humiliating, with often painful, long-term consequences,” Mike Feuer said in a statement.
“It mocks and stigmatizes its victims, tearing down self-respect and perpetuating the harmful idea that our unique physical appearances should be compared to air-brushed notions of ‘perfect.’ What really matters is our character and humanity. While body-shaming, in itself, is not a crime, there are circumstances in which invading one’s privacy to accomplish it can be. And we shouldn’t tolerate that.”
Mathers could face up to six months in prison if found guilty of one misdemeanor count of invasion of privacy.
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