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The Guardian
23 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Football agent Jonathan Barnett accused of trafficking, torture and rape
The leading football agent Jonathan Barnett is being sued in an American court over allegations of human trafficking, torture and rape. In a civil complaint filed in a California district court it is alleged that Barnett 'trafficked' the woman from Australia to the UK in 2017, 'tortured' her for six years by keeping her as a 'sex slave' and sexually assaulted her, including by rape, more than 39 times, as well as making 'repeated threats to her life and the lives of her minor children'. Barnett's former employer, the Hollywood talent group Creative Artists Agency, faces allegations in the same complaint that it 'used its employees and emissaries to assist Barnett in keeping' the complainant as his 'sex slave'. Barnett and CAA deny all the allegations. 'The claims made in [the] complaint against me have no basis in reality and are untrue,' Barnett said in a statement through his lawyers. 'We will vigorously defend this lawsuit through the appropriate legal process. I am looking forward to being entirely vindicated and exonerated.' Barnett was a leading sports agent for more than four decades before he retired last year. The 75-year-old is best known for brokering Gareth Bale's world record £85.3m transfer from Tottenham to Real Madrid in 2013 but has also represented a host of other top players including Jack Grealish and Ivan Toney. In the complaint an anonymous woman referred to as Jane Doe alleges that Barnett 'owned her' as a 'sex slave' for six years, subjecting her to alleged violent and abusive behaviour that was covered up by his employers. 'This is a case about institutional abuse at the highest level,' the complaint reads. 'This case is about how one of the world's most powerful men in sports openly kept a sex slave for years, with the assistance of his employees, accountants, emissaries, and family members, and used his money and power to maintain coercive control over her and keep her in fear for her life and the lives of her children.' The complaint says CAA 'knew or should have known' that he was 'keeping a sex slave'. CAA said it first learned of the allegations in January 2024 and Barnett left the company the following month. The company strongly denies any prior knowledge of the complaints against him. 'While the complaint attempts to connect these allegations to CAA's business, Ms. Doe has never been an employee, consultant, or contractor of CAA, ICM, or Stellar, nor has she ever had any business connection to CAA, ICM, or Stellar,' it said in a statement. In the complaint Doe says she first met Barnett in the mid-1990s through a friend before reconnecting in 2017 when he sent her a private message on LinkedIn saying 'something to the effect of, 'Nice pic'.' It says they arranged to meet soon after when she was visiting the UK from her home in Australia, and she claims that he urged her to move with her teenage children to London work for him, offering to pay for her accommodation and school fees for her two children. After moving to London, Doe alleges, Barnett raped her in their first meeting at a central London hotel, telling her that he 'owned' her and would kill her if she reported him. The complaint goes on to detail further alleged abusive behaviour by Barnett, including punishment beatings and tying her up overnight without food or water. The complaint also alleges that CAA made substantial payments to Doe on several occasions between 2017 and 2023, and used its employees assist Barnett. 'Given that Ms Doe was not a CAA Stellar athlete or sports agent, this conduct should have raised numerous red flags for Defendants to inquire into the nature of these payments and the relationship the company had to the persons they were tasked with assisting,' it says. Barnett formed the Stellar Group in 1992, with the former West Indies cricketer Brian Lara among its first clients, before selling it to the Hollywood talent agency ICM Partners in 2020. ICM was later swallowed by its larger rival CAA, in a deal completed in 2022 that brought together two of the world's biggest agencies. Barnett and CAA have 20 days to respond to the allegations by filing to the court.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Sport agent Jonathan Barnett accused of rape in US lawsuit
High-profile British sports agent Jonathan Barnett has been accused of raping a woman more than 39 times, in a US a civil complaint lodged at a US district court in Los Angeles, the unnamed woman, referred to as "Jane Doe", says Mr Barnett "trafficked" her from Australia to the UK in 2017, "tortured" and kept her as a "sex slave" over a six year says Mr Barnett made "repeated threats to her life and the lives of her minor children".The 75-year-old known for representing leading footballers including Gareth Bale and Jack Grealish, says the charges "have no basis in reality and are untrue". "We will vigorously defend this lawsuit through the appropriate legal process. I am looking forward to being entirely vindicated and exonerated," a statement from his lawyers Barnett was ranked as the world's most powerful sports agent in 2019 by Forbes civil case was filed on to court documents, the pair first met in the 1990s through a professional athlete in London and reconnected online and then in person in 2017. Within a matter of weeks she relocated to the UK with her teenage children - with sports agency CAA Stellar, headed by Mr Barnett, covering moving filing says that upon her arrival, he told her he "owned" her and raped her in a hotel Barnett went on to impose strict rules to obey him at all times, referring to him as "My Master" and to "never say it hurts", according to the lawsuit. The complaint goes on to describe alleged degrading acts that included drinking urine or ingesting faeces. The alleged torture also included the woman "tied up overnight without food or water".She says she was "trafficked, threatened, tortured, and held" in bondage in different locations throughout the world, including Los Angeles, from 2017 to 2023."Realising she was powerless against a dangerous predator, Ms Doe submitted to Barnett in order to avoid being severely beaten or even killed," the lawsuit said. "Jane Doe" is also suing Hollywood talent firm Creative Artists Agency and sports agency CAA Stellar, where Mr Barnett was executive chairman until his retirement last court documents state the CAA Stellar's parent companies, talent agencies ICM and CAA, "failed to find and/or willfully or recklessly disregarded" that substantial payments were made between 2017 and 2023, despite the woman not being an athlete or agent. It is claimed Barnett referred to her as "slave" in emails sent from his work documents say Mr Barnett used his "money and power to maintain coercive control" over the woman who was "in fear of her life and the lives of her children". Lawyers for "Jane Doe" state the case is about "institutional abuse at the highest level". They are seeking compensation on her behalf. According to LA Times, CAA said it first heard of the woman's allegations last year when her lawyers made settlement demands - and the press inquired."While the complaint attempts to connect these allegations to CAA's business, Ms Doe has never been an employee, consultant, or contractor of CAA, ICM, or Stellar, nor has she ever had any business connection to CAA, ICM, or Stellar," CAA said in its statement. "CAA takes any allegations of this nature seriously, and through counsel, promptly urged Ms Doe to contact law enforcement in the United Kingdom."
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Diddy's baby mama Dana Tran flees to LA after split trial verdict leaves him facing 20 years
The mother of Diddy 's youngest child immediately fled for Los Angeles after the jury's verdict in his New York City trial left him facing a jail term of up to 20 years. The rapper, 55, was acquitted on Wednesday of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges that could have put him behind bars for life. He was convicted of lesser prostitution-related offenses and was denied bail as he awaited sentencing. Shortly after the verdict was read out, Dana Tran, who gave birth to their two-year-old daughter Love Sean Combs in October 2022, rushed home to be with the toddler, who was ill with a cold, according to TMZ. Dana had attended Diddy's trial after traveling to New York City to show him her support in the final days of the case, but she quickly left after learning their daughter was sick. Combs was convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, and each count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. But jurors cleared him of three charges, two of which carried a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum sentence of life in prison. Despite sharing a child with her, Diddy has never confirmed a relationship with Dana. It has never been revealed how they met, and their connection has remained mysterious in the years since Love's birth. Now Dana is gone, Diddy will have to remain in jail as he awaits a sentencing hearing, which was initially scheduled for October 3. After hearing the verdict, the rapper dropped to his knees and prayed in the courtroom. His lawyer Marc Agnifilo called the verdict a great victory' and said the jury 'got the situation right — or certainly right enough' as he stood outside Manhattan federal court at a stand of microphones. 'Today is a victory of all victories.' 'I'll see you when I get out,' Combs told family members, including his mother and children, just before leaving the courtroom to return to jail. 'We´re going to get through this.' His attorney had first asked for him to be released on a $1million bond after the verdict, but the prosecution argued his convictions made him ineligible for bail because he was both a flight risk and considered potentially violent. Judge Arun Subramanian sided with prosecutors after previously denying Diddy bail before the start of the trial. Ironically, the judge cited Diddy's own defense at trial as part of the reason he would not receive bail, as his attorney had conceded Combs had engaged in domestic abuse in a disturbing video showing him shoving and kicking his then-girlfriend Cassie Venture before dragging her back to his hotel room after she tried to escape via an elevator. Judge Subramanian also cited the testimony of another of Diddy's ex-girlfriends — referred to in court only as 'Jane' — whom he was allegedly violent toward in June of last year, three months after the FBI raided his mansions. However, Diddy's attorney Marc Agnifilo pushed back and claimed that his client had only fought back against 'Jane' in self-defense. According to TMZ, he also cited the presence of Diddy's older children in court, but that didn't convince the judge to let him go free while he awaits sentencing. But the disgraced rapper will have another chance to plead his case sooner after Subramanian scheduled an expedited sentencing hearing for July 8. Although Diddy's six oldest children - Quincy Brown, 34; Justin Combs, 31; Christian 'King' Combs, 27; Chance Combs, 18; and twins D'Lila and Jessie Combs, 18 - all showed their support by attending court on Wednesday, most of them stayed silent on social media in the wake of the verdict. But Christian was the exception, taking to Instagram to cheer on his father's acquittal on the most severe charges, even though he could still face up to two decades behind bars. Later on Wednesday, he posted a snippet of his song Diddy Free — which features Kanye West — to his Instagram Stories, along with the single's photo of Diddy's Bad Boy Records headquarters.
