A sexual assault lawsuit against Kanye West filed by a former model is gaining new momentum, with corroborating evidence now submitted to the court that includes statements from witnesses who were present on the day of the alleged incident as well as communications from a well-known recording artist who says she remembers what she witnessed.
The plaintiff, Jennifer An, a model who appeared as a finalist on America’s Next Top Model in 2009, originally filed the lawsuit in November 2024 under New York City’s Gender Motivated Violence Protection Act. Her legal team has now submitted a series of new exhibits they argue substantially strengthen her claims.
What An alleges happened on set
According to court documents, An was hired in September 2010 to appear as a background actress in a music video for a remix of La Roux’s song In for the Kill. What began as a professional opportunity allegedly became something far more disturbing.
An claims that West singled her out during the shoot and, without warning and with cameras rolling, choked her with both hands, smeared her makeup and then forced several fingers into her throat in a manner she described as simulating forced oral sex. West allegedly declared the act to be art in the moment, framing his conduct as a creative choice. An’s lawsuit describes the experience as humiliating and degrading.
West’s legal team filed a motion to dismiss the case in January, arguing in part that because the alleged conduct occurred during the production of expressive content, it should be protected under free speech principles. An’s attorneys pushed back firmly on that argument in their new filing, asserting that no interpretation of artistic expression can shield what they characterize as a sexual assault.
La Roux’s alleged account
Among the most significant pieces of new evidence are screenshots of an alleged Instagram exchange between An and the verified account of La Roux, the British artist behind In for the Kill. In the messages, which are included in the court documents, La Roux reportedly confirms that she remembers the incident clearly, describing it as something she could never forget and calling it horrific.
La Roux allegedly wrote that she had never seen the footage from that day and had asked that it never be used or publicly shared, acknowledging that An had expressed serious concern about the material being seen by her family. The messages also allegedly show La Roux explaining that she had previously refrained from telling An’s story publicly out of respect, while noting that West had at some point threatened her in connection with her public commentary about him. She allegedly described the threat as an attempt to remind her of his power and influence over her career.
In a separate reference included in the documents, La Roux allegedly described writing West an apology email at his demand around 2020, a request she said she complied with sarcastically.
Witness accounts from the set
The new filings also include a signed statement from a makeup artist who was working on the set that day. The makeup artist wrote that she directly observed West force his fingers into An’s mouth and issue a crude verbal instruction to her. She stated clearly that the act was not part of the script and that everyone present was shocked but felt unable to intervene given West’s status and influence. She recalled An crying afterward and repeatedly expressing distress about the possibility of her mother seeing footage from the shoot.
A second witness also submitted an affirmation. That witness stated that while she did not have a direct line of sight to everything that allegedly occurred, she observed West standing over An and making movements consistent with some of the actions described in the lawsuit. She did not dispute the broader allegations, noting only the limitations of her vantage point.
A defendant facing multiple fronts
West is currently contending with more than one active legal matter. A separate civil lawsuit from a former personal assistant, filed in 2024, includes its own sexual assault allegations, which he has denied. He also recently faced a verdict in a civil case brought by a former worker at his Malibu property. The accumulation of legal exposure adds context to the environment in which the An lawsuit is now being litigated.
An’s legal team has made clear they intend to see the case proceed to full examination in court.
