PokerStars Media Platinum Pass winner, Aleeyah Jadavji, and Poker League of Nations co-founder, Lena Evans, share their views on the allegations that Evans photoshopped an image of Jadavji without her consent.
Intestines tighten. Fingernails fight for the right to turn into horror movie claws. I want to turn them into lamb chops and feed them to people who like eating lamb chops. But like wanting to kiss with my eyes open so I can see if the other person is kissing me with their eyes open, I don’t budge.
It’s not my responsibility.
My son will have to deal with the body shamers, his way.
I want to rearrange my alphabet spaghetti shapes so either side of my vegan sausage you see the words Fuck You whenever I hear a body shaming story. It’s a combination of feeling so ashamed of my acne that I had to turn the light off before getting into bed with the first person I lived with, and shame for at one time or another behaving in this abusive way to someone else.
So when I read this tweet by Aleeyah Jadavji I got so mad, I nearly ate chose the tub of cottage cheese with pineapple.
I’m in full support of women’s poker groups to bring more of us into the game but had to drop PLON today. They felt the need to photoshop my headshot so I looked skinnier when representing them.
Sure, let’s just wreck everyone’s self esteem while advocating for women!
NO!
— Alee Yah (@ElleSriracha) January 13, 2019
For those of you in the dark, PLON is an acronym for Poker League of Nations, an outfit that calls itself the world’s largest and most internationally represented women’s poker organisation. I would have thought altering a woman’s image before publishing it on the Internet would be akin to squeezing the toothpaste tube from the top.
After reading the tweet, I slammed my Sunday newspaper onto the kitchen table without reading my horoscope, went out and bought a cat, kicked it, and then messaged Aleeyah and PLON to ask them to comment on the accusations and counter-accusations with a view of turning the whole thing into an opinion piece.
After reading both sides of the story, I’ve decided to switch lanes. Instead of sharing my opinion, I will act as referee, sharing the views from the blue and red corner, leaving you to make your mind up about who is in the right or wrong.
As with all things, no matter whose side you fall on, there is a silver lining, and that’s a raised awareness that if a poker company is thinking of altering the image of someone in any way, shape or form that they should first ask for permission.
In the Red Corner: Aleeyah Jadavji
Aleeyah told me that she became an ambassador for PLON because she wanted to help grow the group, and get more women into poker. Unfortunately, she had to take a step back when a doctor diagnosed her with a malignant tumour.
The image that’s at the centre of the war (see below) was taken in the King’s Lounge, at the Rio during the 2018 World Series of Poker (WSOP). Aleeyah is in the middle with Deb Wall on the left, and PLON founder, Lena Evans on the right.
Lena provided me with another shot (see below) that was taken at Caesar’s Palace later that evening to demonstrate that in her opinion, Lena Evans had digitally doctored her image.
“If you compare the two, it’s clear my skin was airbrushed, hair was cut off, and my body was distorted,” said Aleeyah. “Lena even posted a before and after picture to make it seem like she didn’t make many changes, but it was still clearly airbrushed and cropped.”
Aleeyah noticed the photograph in mid-December when PLON announced their 2019 ambassadors, and her immediate reaction was the laugh it off because the photoshop job wasn’t really that great.
“I laughed it off and moved on, because just days later I was scheduled to have major surgery,” Aleeyah told me.
Aleeyah said she raised the issue with PLON casually after the group asked ambassadors for suggestions to add to the agenda of the Ambassador Group Call scheduled for January. Aleeyah couldn’t attend but suggested they add ‘photos’ to the list, before expanding on the idea that PLON should seek permission before editing an image because it sends a bad message.
“It was a simple suggestion, and Lena blew up at me,” said Aleeyah. “She got defensive, and we started to argue.”
At this point, Aleeyah told me that at least 12 women had seen the messages fired back and forth, and thanked her for speaking up because they were scared of Lena, with one lady telling her that an altercation with Lena had left her in tears. Aleeyah also alleged that Lena was removing members from PLON because they were supporting a similar organisation called The Women’s Poker Association (WPA).
I asked Aleeyah how it felt to learn that someone had felt the need to change her image as she had alleged, and she told me that initially, she didn’t care; was a little annoyed, but felt the need to push the issue when she realised how many women were feeling badly about it.
“I felt it was worth discussing,” said Aleeyah.
Aleeyah used the example of being a parent, and learning that the same thing had happened to your daughter who said, “Mum/Dad, what’s wrong with the way I look?”
“Personally, I’d be mortified and heartbroken,” said Aleeyah. “Women deal with body image issues every day, so being part of a group where the leader airbrushes her own face and body every day and thinks it’s fine to do the same to others just makes me question what the group is actually about.”
Finally, I asked Aleeyah how she feels about PLON after the incident, and she told me that she believes the overall spirit of the group is great.
“Lifting women up with regards to their poker accomplishments, and bringing more women to open events via satellites is great.” Said Aleeyah.
Then came the but…
“There is a lot of censorship going on in the group, and picking who can and can’t be part of the group is an abuse of power and is overall immature,” said Aleeyah. “There’s no reason why all women’s groups can’t work together. Additionally, Lena has implemented a “dress code.” According to her, women shouldn’t wear low cut tops, ripped clothing or short shorts. I’m sorry, but this isn’t a cult. It’s a free group run by volunteers. We should be able to wear what we want, speak freely and be part of any group we please without being excluded.”
And what does she think of Lena Evans?
“Lena Evans has shown zero remorse, and is just a dictator, in my opinion,” said Aleeyah. “I will support all women’s events but refuse to interact with Lena. There’s a reason why prominent women in poker, like Kristen Bicknell, Jamie Kerstetter, Heidi May, Daiva Byrne and Nancy Birnbaum, have stopped supporting the group.”
In the Blue Corner: Lena Evans
I asked Lena Evans, directly “Did someone within PLON photoshop an image of Aleeyah, airbrushing her skin, cutting her hair and distorting her body?”
Lena replied that it was very unfortunate that Aleeyah persists with these false accusations and that PLON had tried and failed on numerous times to request a suitable photograph to use on the Ambassador section of the webpage. Eventually, PLON decided to us the group photo in question.
“The editing consisted of removing the other individuals and diffusing the busy background. We never had the intention of changing her appearance, her hair, or her skin, but simply to have an isolated headshot of her with her PLON patch on.” Said Lena before continuing, “PLON includes women of all shapes, sizes, colours, ages, and personal life preferences. We accept them all and would never demean their physical appearance in any manner. I have apologised to Aleeyah repeatedly for what she perceives to have happened. We never intended to make her feel bad.”
How did it come to this?
Why do we have two polarising views on the manipulation, or not, of this image?
Lena has a view.
“The photo was taken in my camera, which often times has automatic filters,” said Lena. “The photo started as a wide shot, and once cropped in, the quality and resolution diminished. A flash may have been triggered, and the whole photo may have been automatically lightened in the app, which would explain why ALL faces in the photo may appear lighter than they might be in reality. Nobody’s skin was individually lightened—separately or intentionally. The only photoshopping that was done to the photo was to remove my hand on Aleeyah’s shoulder, and remove some of the background, so as to focus just on her. Her hair was NOT cut. If her body seemed distorted, it may be because everything was cropped out, leaving only her from the chest up.”
I asked Lena what was PLON’s policy on photoshopping images of people, and what would be an acceptable reason to do this? Lena responded that it is always their preference for members to provide photos for use by PLON. However, and this is a familiar problem for all independent poker media, there are times when a photographer isn’t available at an event, and a search on the web is needed to find an image.
“Yes, we have improved the lighting or cropped to isolate a player and diffused backgrounds in photos, but we don’t alter the essence of the woman,” said Lena. “Photo filters are more common than not in camera apps, but our policy going forward is to not alter photos unless the player requests or approves. This will help to ensure there are no further issues regarding photos.
“Our primary focus is to celebrate women’s successes in poker and bring more women into OPEN events with our staking initiatives. We are not a fashion magazine slimming and smoothing models and creating fake images. We are in fact giving professional worldwide exposure to women’s poker accomplishments.”
I told Lena that Aleeyah had alleged that she was removing PLON members because of a beef with the WPA, and Lena responded by stating that PLON had no beef with the WPA.
“It’s purely coincidental that they launched at around the same time PLON was gaining tremendous momentum,” said Lena. “Most women do not have the resources to pay for memberships for networking and education—we would rather our money go toward buy-ins for open events! PLON’s drive to promote free education may have affected WPA’s original model of paid membership—in stark contrast to PLON’s free membership and free content for education, networking, staking and contest opportunities, as well as being a leader with acknowledgements focused on successes.
“PLON is a closed group, and like all closed groups and forums, Administrators and Moderators exercise their prerogative and discernment to curate the membership of the community. People who speak or act negatively toward our members or members of the poker community in general are counterproductive for the goals and morale of our group, as we try to stay positive and elevate the poker profile of our players. Those willing to engage pleasantly and professionally with our members are welcome. The Poker League of Nations closed group is a safe haven and we certainly have the expectation that all members be respectful of others. Our Administrators and Moderators exercise a level of restraint when pushed into a dissenting public light, as we feel our approach not to perpetuate negativity is best for the community as a whole.”
And is Lena a dictator as Aleeyah called her?
Lena seemed acutely aware of why this feedback exists.
“As a professional woman who speaks in a very frank manner, I can understand how people might be intimidated by my direct approach,” said Lena. “My inner circle has been extremely helpful in guiding me to soften the edges for those who may not understand my fierce passion for our purpose. If women in today’s society don’t want to be perceived as victims, they need to be strong, and that is what I try to be. I don’t believe anyone is “scared” of me in the way portrayed to you. Ironically, there are women who have volunteered for PLON over the past year who have recently decided to be recognized as Ambassadors. These women are well aware of my work ethic and communication style. I have dedicated a tremendous amount of my time, resources, connections and energy to elevate women in poker and support our PLON community, and have never intended harm to anyone.”
Moving on to the comments from Aleeyah that Lena had implemented a dress code for PLON members, she said that the accusation had been taken out of context and that PLON did not have a dress code.
“There was one incident where PLON Ambassadors were guests in a lounge,” Lena told me. “An Ambassador entered the lounge in a very provocative outfit, and I was asked by the managers of the lounge to kindly remind our representatives to present more appropriately. This was the only instance where I mentioned to an Ambassador something regarding clothing. This was not me imposing a dress code: I was simply relaying the lounge host’s message. Another reference that was taken out of context was when someone mentioned in a thread that as the owner of my own business (NOT PLON), I have the right to direct my team members and staff to present in a professional manner based on my own criteria for my paid staff. We have never dictated a dress code to PLON women. I strongly encourage women to present themselves with their merit and intellect.”
I found one of the strengths of the PLON was the strong spine of the ambassadorial unit with the likes of Kristen Bicknell, Jamie Kerstetter and Daiva Byrne putting their full weight behind the organisation. Is it true that they have left with a bitter taste in their mouth?
“These ladies have a certain profile in poker–including paid sponsorships, and often a required narrow public focus in representing other organizations,” said Lena. “We are grateful for their involvement in our inaugural year and respect their decision to step away from the Ambassador position. In the past few weeks, there has been a storm of accusations, misinformation and gossip in public and in private.
“PLON’s primary focus is poker and not the tribulation that has been needlessly generated because we chose to separate from two Ambassadors and use a low-rez photographic image. The Ambassador program is one of our most successful initiatives, and our Ambassadors have conveyed to us that they are honored to be selected and featured regularly. As we continue to grow, the hope is that PLON Ambassadors be much more involved in our programs, in order to help bring additional opportunities to women in poker so we can rise to the level of these female pros. To that end, we have offered our active Ambassadors and select members the opportunity to compete for a freeroll into this summer’s $10,000 Main Event. Our mission has not changed: #MoreWomen in poker, and particularly in open events.”
Ding.
Ding.
The scorecards are out.
What’s your opinion?
