Model claims Kanye West choked her during music video shoot

Model Jennifer Ann, who accused Kanye West of choking her and subjecting her to behavior she described as “pornographic suffocation” during the filming of a music video in 2009, has spoken out further about the alleged incident.

Ann, who was a finalist on America's Next Top Model that same year, filed a sexual assault lawsuit against West in November 2024, citing New York's Gender-Based Violence Protection Act.

In the lawsuit, she alleged that West came to the filming of the video for the hit song "In for the Kill" by the group La Roux at the Chelsea Hotel in Manhattan, where she worked as an extra, and that he organized "his own production" without the opposition of those present, including scenes that she described as similar to pornographic fetishes.

In a new interview with the BBC podcast "Fame Under Fire," Anne described the events in more detail.

According to her, filming was underway when the crew members suddenly stopped working.

"They started running around the Chelsea Hotel saying, 'Kanye's coming, Kanye's coming.'"

Not long after, she claims, the models were lined up in the hallway to await West's arrival.

"He walked past us and picked three girls to be in the scene with him," she said, adding that she was among them.

Ann states that during filming, West kept forgetting his lines, after which he stopped filming and decided to film another scene.

According to her claims, a chair was then placed in front of the camera, while West sat behind the camera, facing her, but out of frame.

"I didn't know what was going to happen. No one gave me any instructions. They just told me to sit on a chair," she said, adding that physical contact followed.

"Suddenly he reached out and started choking me. I wasn't sure what was happening. Then he used both hands and continued to choke me, smearing makeup on my face and putting his hands in my mouth," she described.

Anne said that the way he allegedly used his hands in her mouth simulated oral sex.

"I felt like he was trying to touch me as much as possible," she points out, saying that he smeared makeup on her face in a way that she found inappropriate and disturbing.

She also stated that there were many people on set who did not react.

When asked if she tried to stop Vesta during the alleged incident, she replied:

"No, I didn't, because I didn't know what to do... I was completely frozen. I was thinking, 'I could lose my job.'"