After having a pretty tumultuous past few weeks in the NFL, New England Patriots player Antonio Brown has been accused of rape in a new lawsuit.
Brown was most recently in media headlines after a series of conflicts with the Oakland Raiders led to his release from the team last week. The wide receiver had just signed on with the Patriots on Monday, one day before a lawsuit released accusing him of three incidents of sexual assault, in 2017 and 2018, against a woman he attended college with.
According to a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday in the Southern District of Florida, Brown is accused of raping his former trainer, 28-year-old Britney Taylor. The lawsuit says that Brown — in three separate incidents, two in June 2017 and another in May 2018 — sexually assaulted Taylor during their time at Central Michigan together. Taylor was a gymnast who the athlete had hired to be his trainer.
“Mr. Brown denies each and every allegation in the lawsuit,” said a statement from Darren Heitner, a lawyer representing Brown. “He will pursue all legal remedies to not only clear his name but to also protect other professional athletes against false accusations.”
According to the lawsuit, Brown first exposed himself and kissed Taylor without her permission in June 2017, the lawsuit says. Later that same month, the lawsuit says, she was watching television at his home when Brown started masturbating behind her and ejaculated on her back.
“Ewww!” Taylor claims to have said after the incident.
“oh Bi*ch you know, I’m sorry,” he allegedly responded to her before leaving the room.
Taylor claims to have ended her working relationship with Brown, but let him back into her life several months later after he apologized, the lawsuit states.
She was, according to the lawsuit, “swayed by his assurance that he would cease any sexual advances.”
The third incident allegedly took place on May 20, 2018, when Taylor accuses Brown of forcing her onto a bed, pushing her face into the mattress and “forcibly” raping her. The lawsuit says she tried to fight him off by screaming and repeatedly shouting “no” and “stop,”, but Brown refused and penetrated her.
“As a rape victim of Antonio Brown, deciding to speak out has been an incredibly difficult decision,” Taylor said in a statement released by her lawyer. “I have found strength in my faith, my family, and from the accounts of other survivors of sexual assault.”
Taylor also released a statement saying she is willing to cooperate with the N.F.L. in an investigation.
Brown’s legal statement claims that he and Taylor engaged in consensual sex and that “any sexual interaction with Mr. Brown was entirely consensual.”
A spokesman for the Patriots said in an email that the team had not heard about the lawsuit or any related allegations.