Dak Prescott filed a defamation lawsuit Monday in Collin County, Texas, in response to a demand letter sent by lawyers for a woman who says the Cowboys’ quarterback sexually assaulted her in 2017.
Prescott and his legal team say they received a letter asking for the woman to be compensated in exchange for not pressing criminal charges or going public with the allegations. The letter, which valued the damage to her at $100,000,000, was sent to a third party at Mississippi State, Prescott’s alma mater.
Prescott’s side denies the allegations and calls the letter “extortionary.” Per the lawsuit, “[The defendants’] false claims in this regard undermine the courage of actual sexual assault survivors everywhere as well as the legitimacy of the horrific traumas they have endured.”
Bethel Zehaie, one of the woman’s attorneys, said in a statement to ESPN that Prescott had acknowledged being with the woman on that night in 2017. “Dak and his lawyers are trying to be bullies and play hardball and victim blame. We are not afraid of the truth,” she said. The letter, dated Jan. 16, says that the two met through her job, communicated on Snapchat, and that on Feb. 2, 2017, Prescott exposed himself to the woman in the back row of an SUV before later sexually assaulting her. The letter states the woman has needed therapy and counseling, and that the incident has impacted her relationship with her fiancé.
Prescott is seeking upward of $1 million, and he says he intends to donate anything he receives to the Joyful Heart Foundation, an organization that aids survivors of child abuse, domestic violence, and sexual assault.
“Mr. Prescott has never engaged in any nonconsensual, sexual conduct with anyone,” Prescott’s attorney Levi McCathern said in a statement. “We will not allow the Defendant and her legal team to profit from this attempt to extort millions from Mr. Prescott.”
