NFL Star Michael Irvin Faces Backlash After The Marriott Releases New Information On $100 Million Harassment Lawsuit
Former Dallas Cowboys star Michael Irvin was recently kicked off of the NFL's Super Bowl panel when a woman filed a complaint against the athlete after an unsolicited interaction that allegedly took place at a Marriott hotel in Arizona.
Now, the hotel itself is releasing new information regarding the incident.
Irving, who is seeking $100 million in damages from the Jane Doe involved as well as the Marriot, compared the claims against him to that of modern-day lynching.
He addressed the situation in a recent conference, noting, "This takes me back to a time where a white woman would accuse a black man of something and they would take a bunch of guys that were above the law, run in the barn, put a rope around his foot and drag him through the mud and hang him by the tree."
The Marriott filed their motion to dismiss the suit, releasing key details they failed to disclose initially. They claimed the unnamed victim made a complaint about Irvin making unwanted sexual advances, asking the employee "if she knew anything about having a big black man inside of [her].'"
The Marriott wrote: "Irvin's counsel provided a self-serving, inaccurate summary of the video footage Marriott produced, including his claim that the footage proves Irvin did nothing wrong."
They also claimed the former NFL player was the one who made this about race, not the victim.
The video provided to the court allegedly shows Irving reaching out and touching the victim's arm during their conversation without her consent. They pointed out how the Jane Doe was noticeably uncomfortable and attempted to leave the situation at various moments.
According to the lawsuit, two other hotel employees reportedly noticed their co-worker in an uncomfortable state when she returned to work. The accuser went to work the next day and reported the incident to her manager, who told her to take the complaint to Loss Prevention.
The filing also claimed that after the alleged incident, Irvin turned to another employee, saying out loud, "she bad" and "I want to hit that" before slapping himself in the face three times, saying "keep it together Mike."
Irvin’s attorney Levi McCathern denied the claims.
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McCathern said Irvin was only seen touching the woman four times throughout the video, twice for a handshake to say hello and goodbye, and two touches on the elbow.
"She never acts upset," the lawyer said. "She doesn't act like there's any problems at all."
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