Snowboarder Shaun White Accused of Graphic Sexual Harassment by Former Bad Things Bandmate

Shaun White pictured above right, while Lena Zawaideh pictured above centre.

BY Josiah HughesPublished Aug 16, 2016

Shaun White is perhaps best known as an Olympic snowboarder, but he's also spent time as a skateboarder and a guitarist in the electronic rock band Bad Things. In a lawsuit, the group's former drummer Lena Zawaideh has now accused him of multiple counts of sexual harassment. Today, some of the graphic details have emerged.

Zawaideh started the band with White in 2008 and left the group in 2014. She filed suit against White earlier this year, claiming that he forced her to rehearse while sick, demanded she cut her hair and ultimately stopped paying her. She claims she's owed $42,000 USD in back payments. She also mentioned some form of sexual harassment in her initial claims, though details were scarce. 

Now TMZ has obtained court documents that lay out the sordid details of what Zawaideh describes as White's "darker, misogynistic personality."

The graphic accusations include White sending Zawaideh images of "engorged and erect penises" and forcing her to watch sexually explicit materials, including "videos sexualizing human fecal matter" and one allegedly involving a couple killing a bear and then having sex on top of it. In the lawsuit, she adds that White allegedly touched his genitals once, then "stuck his hands in her face trying to make her smell them."

"I am pursuing this case because women should not have to tolerate harassment at work," she said in a statement. "Shaun White should not be allowed to do whatever he wants just because he is famous. Although I am embarrassed to have been treated this way, I cannot sit by and watch him do this to other women."

Zawaideh is suing for non-payment of her contract, plus other damages for the alleged sexual harassment. White's team has yet to respond to the allegations.

Bad Things released a self-titled album via Warner Bros. in 2014. They've shared the stage with X Ambassadors and We Are Scientists, and replaced Death Grips at Lollapalooza in 2013.


 

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