Dani Mathers, Playboy's 2015 Playmate of the Year, posted images on Snapchat of herself at a California gym. But Mathers didn't post just photos of herself; the 29-year-old model posted pictures of another gym patron -- a naked one.
"If I can’t unsee this then you can’t either," she wrote on a snapshot of a woman's naked body. The woman was in the women's locker room near the showers.
Mathers also posted a photo of herself, wearing hand weights and a workout shirt, covering her mouth.
Soon after the images went up on Mathers' public Snapchat, she was banned from the LA Fitness where she took the photos and all other LA Fitness gyms nationwide. She was also suspended indefinitely from her radio gig on a popular Los Angeles station, The Washington Post reported.
"Her behavior is appalling and puts every member at risk of losing their privacy," said Jill Greuling, LA Fitness' executive vice president of operations. "Our written rules are very clear: Cellphone usage and photography are prohibited in the locker rooms. This is not only our rule, but common decency."
Mathers, who deleted her Twitter and Instagram accounts after the incident, said she was a new Snapchat user and that she incorrectly used the app.
"I have chosen to do what I do for a living because I love the female body, and I know that body shaming is wrong and that’s not what I’m about and that’s not the type of person that I am," she said in an apology on Snapchat. "That photo was taken to be part of a personal conversation with a girlfriend, and because I am new to Snapchat, I didn’t realize I had posted it, and that was a huge mistake."
Along with public backlash, the playmate could also face legal charges.
According to the Los Angeles Times, LA Fitness officials reported the photo to authorities, who opened an investigation. Los Angeles police Capt. Andrew Neiman told the Times that detectives from the LAPD's west division sexual assault section are looking into the situation.
Under California law, Mathers could face a charge of disorderly conduct for the "illegal distribution" of the image, a misdemeanor that can include a fine of up to $1,000 or six months in jail.
The identity of the woman in the photograph is unknown.
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