After making headlines again earlier this week for all the wrong reasons, a federal lawsuit had been filed against Wide Receiver Antonio Brown. Brown was accused of raping and sexually assaulting his ex-trainer and college friend Britney Taylor on three separate occasions spanning from 2017 to 2018.
Below is a statement from Britney Taylor:
“As a rape victim of Antonio Brown, deciding to speak out has been an incredibly difficult decision. I have found strength in my faith, my family, and from the accounts of other survivors of sexual assault. Speaking out removes the shame that I have felt for the past year and places it on the person responsible for my rape. I will cooperate with the NFL and any other agencies; however, at this time, I respectfully request that the media please respect my privacy.”
Following the serious allegations Antonio Brown’s legal team made a statement regarding the accuser and the relationship he and Britney shared:
“Antonio Brown learned today that he has been named in a lawsuit filed in federal court in the Southern District of Florida.
Mr. Brown denies each and every allegation in the lawsuit. He will pursue all legal remedies to not only clear his name, but to also protect other professional athletes against false accusations.
Mr. Brown was approached by his accuser in 2017, shortly after Mr. Brown signed a contract making him the highest paid wide receiver in the NFL.
At that time, Mr. Brown was asked to invest $1.6 million dollars in the accuser’s business project. Mr. Brown was not informed by his accuser that she had just been levied with a $30,000 IRS tax lien or that $300,000 of the $1.6 million so called “investment’’ was to be used to purchase property already owned by the accuser and her mother.
When Mr. Brown refused to make the $1.6 million “investment,’’ the accuser supposedly cut off communications with Mr. Brown.
However, in 2018, the accuser resurfaced and offered to travel to Pennsylvania and South Florida to train Mr. Brown for the upcoming season.
Thereafter, the accuser engaged Mr. Brown in a consensual personal relationship. Any sexual interaction with Mr. Brown was entirely consensual.
The accuser not only traveled to Mr. Brown’s residences on multiple occasions, she traveled from Tennessee to Florida and returned at 2 a.m. to Mr. Brown’s residence ten days after the alleged assault.
The accuser continued communications with Mr. Brown throughout 2018, and even asked Mr. Brown for tickets to a Pittsburgh Steelers football game in the winter of 2018.
Mr. Brown’s accuser has continually posted photographs of Mr. Brown on her social media in an effort to financially benefit from his celebrity. Mr. Brown, whose hard work and dedication to his craft has allowed him to rise to the top of his profession, refuses to be the victim of what he believes to be a money grab.
In May 2018, Mr. Brown’s accuser invited herself to join Mr. Brown and his friends, who were patrons at Miami adult entertainment clubs. After several hours of partying, Mr. Brown and his friends called it a night.
Instead of leaving by herself, as she had arrived, and returning to her hotel, Mr. Brown’s accuser solicited Mr. Brown to join her and return to Mr. Brown’s residence where the two engaged in consensual sex.
Again, Mr. Brown denies all of the accuser’s allegations.”
–Darren Heitner
A spokesperson for the NFL refused to comment regarding the matter however the Patriots came out with the following statement:
“We are aware of the civil lawsuit that was filed earlier today against Antonio Brown, as well as the response by Antonio’s representatives,” the Patriots said in a statement. “We take these allegations very seriously. Under no circumstance does this organization condone sexual violence or assault. The league has informed us that they will be investigating. We will have no further comment while that investigation takes place.”
Brown who was seen at practice this week with his new team will not be placed on the commissioners exempt list meaning that he is eligible to participate in Patriots games and is expected to play the week 2 fixture vs Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
