Just in case you needed another reminder to keep it classy on social media: Dani Mathers, a 30-year-old Los Angeles model and 2015 Playboy Playmate of the Year, has been sentenced to community service after posting a body-shaming photo on Snapchat, according to the Associated Press. Mathers—who initially pleaded not guilty to the charges—pleaded no contest to misdemeanor invasion of privacy after taking a clandestine picture of a naked 71-year-old woman in an LA Fitness locker room back in July and posting it with a mocking caption. “If I can’t unsee this, then you can’t either,” Mathers wrote, posing for a mock-horrified selfie as a complete stranger minding her own business did a normal thing in an appropriate context in the background.
Mathers immediately came under fire for the post, a delicious blend of irony, entitlement, and denial of her own mortality. The online attention (i.e., bad press) surrounding the post prompted LA Fitness to report the incident to the LAPD, which launched an investigation into the “illegal distribution” of the image, according to the LA Times. It’s tempting to feel a bit sorry for Mathers, given that she’ll have to confront her belief that the natural human aging process is disgusting in the mirror one day. But Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer had no such sympathy, testifying that the subject of the photo, who does not wish to be identified and did not appear in court, was mortified by the incident. “Body shaming can devastate its subject. People are mocked, they’re humiliated, and in ways they can never fully get back,” he said.
Mathers’ attorney apologized for the incident, saying, “she really apologizes from the bottom of her heart for what happened. She never thought this would come out like this. Never intended to hurt anyone.” Mathers—who says the post was meant to be a private message—also says that the furor around the photo has cost her modeling work, as well as a gig as a radio host. The judge sentenced Mathers to three years of probation and 30 days of community service cleaning up graffiti. She’s also banned from all LA Fitness locations, and prohibited from taking pictures or video of people without their permission or having a camera “in places where people might be naked or expect privacy.”