New England Patriots wide receiver Antonio Brown sexually assaulted and raped his former trainer, according to a federal civil complaint filed by the trainer’s lawyers in the Southern District of Florida on Tuesday.
In the lawsuit, Brown’s former trainer Britney Taylor says he assaulted her in three separate incidents, two of which occurred in June 2017 and one in May 2018. Brown “inflicted severe and dramatic damage on Ms. Taylor, irreparably harming her,” per the suit. Brown’s attorney released a statement Tuesday night that says Brown “denies each and every allegation.” The statement says any sexual interaction between Brown and Taylor “was entirely consensual.” Brown plans to countersue for civil extortion, according to ESPN’s Josina Anderson.
According to the suit, Brown exposed his penis to Taylor and then kissed her without her consent in his Pittsburgh-area home in June 2017. In a separate incident later that month, the suit says, the two were watching a church service on Taylor’s iPad at Brown’s Miami home when, unbeknownst to Taylor, Brown began masturbating behind her and then ejaculated on her back. According to Taylor’s suit, Brown fired her via text message shortly afterward. The third incident detailed in the lawsuit happened the following year, after Taylor returned to work for Brown on the condition that he stop making sexual advances and “provide her hotel accommodations for each trip,” according to the suit. On May 20, 2018, the suit says, Taylor drove herself, Brown, and an unnamed NFL player from a Miami nightclub to Brown’s home, where she had planned to use the bathroom before heading back to her hotel. As she was about to leave, the suit says, Brown asked to speak with her and took her into his bedroom. Then, according to the lawsuit:
Brown cornered Ms. Taylor, forced her down onto a bed, pushed her face into the mattress, and forcibly raped her. Ms. Taylor tried to resist him, but Brown was too strong and physically overpowered her. She screamed and cried throughout the entire rape, repeatedly shouting “no” and “stop.” Brown refused and penetrated her.
The lawsuit says that while Taylor struggled, Brown told her, “You know you want this.” When she returned the next day to gather her belongings, the lawsuit states, Brown told her, “You made me feel like a real rapist.”
The lawsuit does not say whether Taylor alerted police of the incidents.
The Patriots released a statement early Wednesday that said the league had informed them that it will investigate the incidents detailed in the lawsuit and that the team would have no further comment while that investigation is ongoing.
According to the lawsuit, Brown and Taylor met in 2010 when they were paired together during Bible study at Central Michigan University through the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Taylor was a freshman gymnast, while Brown was a receiver on the football team. After graduation, Taylor opened a gymnastics center in Memphis. In June 2017, the lawsuit says, Brown contacted Taylor about hiring her as a trainer.
The filing says that Brown’s actions caused Taylor to fall “into a deep depression,” and that she has had panic attacks, insomnia, stress-related weight loss of 30 pounds in one month, and suicidal thoughts.
This is one of several legal incidents involving Brown within the past 12 months. He acted “without regard for human life” when he threw furniture from his 14th-floor apartment balcony onto the ground below, coming within 2 feet of hitting a 22-month-old boy, according to a separate lawsuit filed in Florida and reported by TMZ in October 2018. In a separate incident in January 2019, Brown pushed Wiltrice Jackson, the mother of his daughter, to the ground with both hands after she asked him to repay money for their daughter’s hair appointment, according to Jackson’s statement in a police report. The next month, Brown skipped a court date for reckless driving when he was accused of going over 100 mph in Ross Township, Pennsylvania. He was found guilty in his absence. Last month Brown was sued by a chef whose lawsuit said Brown refused to pay him more than $38,000 for meals Brown requested during Pro Bowl weekend in January. Brown was also sued in August by Sean Pena, a personal trainer who said Brown owes him more than $7,000 for services provided, according to court documents obtained by TMZ. The reckless driving conviction is the only one of those incidents to involve a criminal charge.
Brown has been at the center of the NFL news cycle for much of 2019. He was traded from the Pittsburgh Steelers to the Oakland Raiders in March, but barely practiced in Oakland for myriad reasons, from reportedly suffering frostbite in a cryotherapy treatment to refusing to wear a helmet that meets the NFL’s safety specifications. When Brown was fined for the helmet-related absences, he confronted general manager Mike Mayock and reportedly said he would punch him. The Raiders declined to suspend him, but voided the $30 million of guaranteed money in his contract and later cut him. Brown signed a one-year deal with the Patriots on Monday.
