Dani Mathers, the 2015 Playmate of the Year, is still in serious trouble for posting a photo on Snapchat of a naked women in an LA Fitness bathroom last week. Not only has she been banned for life from the gym, indefinitely suspended from her job as a radio show host, and indiscriminately dragged by the entire internet for the last few days, but now the criminal investigation into her actions has been kicked up a notch with the LAPD making their search for Mathers’ victim official.
As is well known by most gym-goers all over the country, it is illegal to take photos in gym bathrooms or spas at any time. In most establishments, even having a phone out in those areas is frowned upon and subject to suspension of banishment from the gym. So even putting aside Mathers’ insensitive body-shaming comments included in the snap, she would be in trouble anyway. Her co-workers called the incident “out of character” but police officers usually don’t care about whether crimes are “out of character” or not.
According to The LA Times, police are searching for the victim because without an official statement or charges being pressed there is no case. Even though what Dani did is against the law, she won’t actually be prosecuted for privacy violations without the women who she snapshotted specifically stating what happened and wanting to press charges. Without that, Mathers will only have to deal with a loss of job opportunities and her new (probably temporary) status as an internet pariah, as well as the need to find a new gym in order to keep her model body in shape.
Her apology didn’t seem especially convincing the first time around – especially since it was a perfect example of an “I don’t understand what I did wrong” apology – but maybe after a few more days of getting told the what for online and by her peers, she will understand what went wrong and learn from her mistakes. If the police don’t find the victim, or if the unidentified women doesn’t want to press charges, Mathers will have the opportunity to bounce back from this problematic life choice. After all, she is only 29 years-old. She has a lot of life left in which to realize body-shaming is a really awful thing to do to somebody.
(via The Los Angeles Times)
