Washington Redskins cheerleaders describe being ‘pimped out’

THE Washington Redskins are under fire after a damning report described the shocking treatment their cheerleaders experienced.

Members of the Washington Redskins cheerleaders during a game against the New York Giants.

THE Washington Redskins organisation has been accused of “pimping out” cheerleaders to male sponsors and suite holders — requiring some to pose topless in front of them, while sending others out to nightclubs as their personal escorts.

“They weren’t putting a gun to our heads, but it was mandatory for us to go,” recalled one cheerleader, who spoke to the New York Times on the condition of anonymity.

“We weren’t asked, we were told,” she said. “Other girls were devastated because we knew exactly what she was doing.”

The trip had been to Costa Rica for a 2013 calendar photo shoot, which Stephanie Jojokian — longtime director and choreographer for the Redskins’ cheer squad — had helped plan, the Times reports.

Cheerleaders who were in attendance spoke to the newspaper and recounted what they were forced to put up with. The allegations were published online Tuesday.

“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 cheerleader.

The Times spoke to five women who were went on the trip and later corroborated their claims with others who had heard stories about what went on.

There is nothing okay about this.
And before you get to “well no one in making them do the job,” there is no way there should be ANY job at any NFL team where female employees are asked to basically strip for advertising clients and then take them out at night.
COME ON. https://t.co/3GNCRkQXiC

— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) May 2, 2018

They claimed that during the shoots, some of the 36 cheerleaders were required to pose topless, while others donned nothing but bodypaint — all while male sponsors and FedExField suite holders looked on.

“At one of my friend’s shoots, we were basically standing around her like a human barricade because she was basically naked, so we could keep the guys from seeing her,” a cheerleader remembered. “I was getting so angry that the guys on the trip were skeezing around in the background.”

Afterwards, Jojokian allegedly gave nine of the women orders to accompany some of the sponsors and suite holders on dates.

“Get back to your room and get ready,” the director told them, according to the Times’ sources.

While the cheerleaders weren’t forced to have sex with the men, they told the paper that it felt like the Redskins organisation was “pimping us out.”

They also claim to have been subjected to the same treatment during a mandatory “team-bonding” boat trip in 2012 — competing in twerking contests and taking shots of liquor from turkey basters.

“I didn’t necessarily feel that we were bonding in a way that was helpful for the whole season,” Jojokian admitted.

“We were too scared to complain,” said one cheerleader, who took part.

“We felt that our place on the team would be compromised if we did.”

This piece is so damning, and the @Redskins response sounds like it was from a series of stock statements a PR executive keeps on sticky posts on his desktop: pic.twitter.com/ZwMPkfkM5R

— Tom Namako (@TomNamako) May 2, 2018

In response to the allegations, the team said: “The Redskins’ cheerleader program is one of the NFL’s premier teams in participation, professionalism, and community service. Each Redskin cheerleader is contractually protected to ensure a safe and constructive environment. The work our cheerleaders do in our community, visiting our troops abroad, and supporting our team on the field is something the Redskins organisation and our fans take great pride in.”

Jojokian told the Times that she was “not forcing anyone to go at all” — and that the cheerleaders chose to accompany the men.

“I’m the mama bear, and I really look out for everybody, not just the cheerleaders,” she said. “It’s a big family. We respect each other and our craft. It’s such a supportive environment for these ladies.”

But several cheerleaders claim this wasn’t — and still isn’t — the case.

“There was a lot of pressure by the director for us to be a part of that party atmosphere with sponsors because we knew she picked favourites that way,” one cheerleader said of Jojokia.

In 2011, the director reportedly told women auditioning for the team that they shouldn’t cover their “chest area” too much.

Dan Snyder is scum. absolute scum of the earth pic.twitter.com/4MB1wO0y2t

— ryan cooper (@ryanlcooper) May 2, 2018

“We’ll assume you are trying to hide something,” she said, according to WJLA-TV in Washington.

But the real issue, according to cheerleaders, was that Redskins management “seemed to condone all of this.”

“You kept telling yourself that it was going to get better,” explained one woman. “But it never got better. Finally, I had to admit to myself, this is not what I thought it would be.”

Pressed further about the allegations, Jojokian said: “No sponsor is worth these children’s safety and wellbeing at all. I have to really reflect and think because I try to teach these women, these cheerleaders, to speak up, not just to me but to anybody. They shouldn’t deal with anyone who is hurtful or harmful.”

This article originally appeared in the NY Post and was reproduced with permission.

Originally published as Washington Redskins cheerleaders describe being ‘pimped out’