Dani Mathers: How The Former ‘Playboy’ Playmate Took Body-Shaming An Unsuspecting Woman To A New Level

Dani Mathers, the former Playboy Playmate, is in hot water after posting a nude photo of an unsuspecting woman to Snapchat. The woman’s face was turned away from the camera, but the photo was taken without her consent in a locker room at an L.A. Fitness gym in Playa Vista, California.

Mathers added a selfie next to the naked photo with one hand over her mouth and appeared to be giggling. The caption reads, “If I can’t unsee this then you can’t either.”

Radio host #DaniMathers fired and banned from gym after #bodyshaming woman on Snapchat https://t.co/B20Cugcefv pic.twitter.com/HDsQvqjpz9

— The Feminism Project (@TheFeminismProj) July 15, 2016

Backlash came swiftly after Mathers posted the picture to Snapchat. Although Mathers quickly deleted the post, screenshots soon began circulating. Social media users blasted Mathers, with one follower on Twitter writing, “@DaniMathers your ugliness cannot be unseen now.”

Once L.A. Fitness found out what Mathers had done, a spokesperson for the gym told TMZ that Mathers has been banned from all of their facilities.

“Our written rules are very clear: Cell phone usage and photography are prohibited in the locker rooms. This is not only our rule, but common decency. Her behavior is appalling and puts every member at risk of losing their privacy. Her membership has been permanently revoked, at all our health clubs, and law enforcement has been notified.”

Dani Mathers also lost her job at Heidi and Frank, a radio show on Los Angeles’ KLOS station. KLOS said Mathers is suspended “indefinitely” from her post.

Various sources first reported the Los Angeles Police Department wasn’t going to get involved unless the woman in the photo lodged a complaint; however, circumstances have changed after the gym notified police.The LAPD has now opened up an investigation of the “illegal distribution” of the nude photo Mathers shared.

LAPD spokesperson Officer Mike Lopez told City News Service the “department received a report of illegal distribution of the image and detectives were looking into the matter. L.A. Fitness reported the posting to police.”

While many are understandably crying foul due to the manner in which Mathers body-shamed a fellow gym member, what Mathers has done goes beyond body-shaming. Yes, Mathers doled out damage to women’s body image, but Mathers also violated a woman’s privacy in a way that is as disgusting as men who have taken photos of women in public restrooms or up their skirts.

The point is that it shouldn’t matter that Mathers is a famous and attractive woman – what she has done is no better than the aforementioned examples.

She Knows reports Mathers is likely guilty of a misdemeanor crime, citing California law that it’s a misdemeanor to “secretly videotape, film, photograph, or record by electronic means, another, identifiable person who may be in a state of full or partial undress, for the purpose of viewing the body of, or the undergarments worn by, that other person, without the consent or knowledge of that other person” in places where privacy can reasonably be expected. This crime carries a penalty of a possible six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Playboy playmate Dani Mathers being investigated by police over shower snapchat pic: https://t.co/51I4mRpO8x pic.twitter.com/Wj1FhTDgbq

— Complex (@ComplexMag) July 16, 2016

Mathers’ halfhearted attempt at an apology makes the situation even more infuriating. Mathers said she meant to post the photo to a friend privately but accidentally made it public because she’s new to Snapchat.

“Body shaming is not okay and is nothing to joke about… This was meant to be a part of a private conversation that never should have happened. Should never make light of another woman’s naked body. I’m sorry for what I did.”

Mathers’ so-called apology is more “sorry I got caught” rather than “sorry I did this in the first place.” Is Mathers sorry because she lost her job and was called out for her reprehensible actions?

Wouldn’t it be just as awful to post this humiliating photo privately to a friend? You don’t take photos in a locker room at the gym with other people around. Period.

Mathers has deleted her Snapchat and Twitter accounts. Mathers also claims she’s going to apologize to the woman, but at this point, Mathers should just leave her alone. The woman has been through enough.

Dani Mathers needs to be held legally accountable for her actions. It isn’t enough that she was publicly called out, lost her job, and been banned from L.A. Fitness gyms. In the same way a man would face charges, Mathers needs to be charged so she knows the seriousness of violating her victim’s privacy.

[Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images]