Washington Redskins cheerleaders were forced to pose nearly naked in front of male onlookers and serve as “personal escorts” for the team’s sponsors during a 2013 trip to Costa Rica, according to a New York Times report published on Wednesday.
The Times interviewed five women who attended the week-long trip for the squad’s annual calendar shoot. They said they were put into uncomfortable positions by the team leadership, with one anonymous cheerleader going as far as to say she felt they were “pimping us out.”
A representative for the Washington Redskins did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
During the shoot itself, the women were asked to pose topless or in body paint as the male sponsors looked on from the side. One of the cheerleaders who attended the shoot described “standing around [a friend] like a human barricade” to prevent them from seeing her naked. “I was getting so angry that the guys on the trip were skeezing around in the background,” she said.
According to the women, nine of them were then selected for another assignment which involved going to a night club where they met with male sponsors and Redskins officials and were encouraged to “drink and flirt” throughout the night.
“They weren’t putting a gun to our heads, but it was mandatory for us to go,” one of the cheerleaders told the Times, recalling the squad’s director Stephanie Jojokian as the one who informed them that they would go. “We weren’t asked, we were told. Other girls were devastated because we knew exactly what she was doing.”
For her part, Jojokian denied that attending the party was mandatory, and said she remembered some of the cheerleaders telling her “that was fun” the following day.
In a statement to the Times, the team did not address the specific allegations about the trip, but noted that “each Redskin cheerleader is contractually protected to ensure a safe and constructive environment.”
“It’s just not right to send cheerleaders out with strange men when some of the girls clearly don’t want to go,” said one of the cheerleaders. “But unfortunately, I feel like it won’t change until something terrible happens, like a girl is assaulted in some way, or raped. I think teams will start paying attention to this only when it’s too late.”