Shaun White — Olympic snowboarder, professional skateboarder, and apparently rock band member — is being sued by former Bad Things drummer Lena Zawaideh, who founded the band with White in 2008. In a lawsuit obtained by TMZ Sports, Zawaideh accuses White of continued sexual harassment over the seven years they were bandmates.
According to the lawsuit, White paid each of the Bad Things members $3,750 per month to be in his band. In 2013, White insisted that his bandmates travel the country with him while he trained for the Olympics. Zawaideh was fired after a 2014 tour and claims she is still owed back payments that White held from her while insisting that she didn’t need the money.
Zawaideh says she saw the “darker, misogynistic personality” of White. For instance, she claims he forced her to rehearse when she was ill, tried to make her cut her hair, and “made inappropriate and sexually harassing and suggestive comments” to her over text and in person. Examples of Whites sexually harassing comments are described vividly in the lawsuit: White sent her pictures of “engorged and erect penises,” forced her to watch explicit videos that involved “sexualizing human fecal matter,” and “stuck his hands in her face trying to make her smell them” after fondling himself.
“I am pursuing this case because women should not have to tolerate harassment at work,” Zawaideh said in a statement. “Shaun White should not be allowed to do whatever he wants just because he is famous. Although I am embarrassed to have been treated this way, I cannot sit by and watch him do this to other women.”
(Via The Daily Beast & TMZ)