Lawsuit: Antonio Brown Raped Former Trainer [Update]

Antonio Brown’s former trainer Britney Taylor is suing the wide receiver, accusing Brown of sexually assaulting her on three separate occasions—twice in June 2017 and again in May 2018.

Taylor, a gymnast, met Brown when the two were students at Central Michigan University in 2010. “Brown...used manipulation and false promises to lure her into his world, and once there, he sexually assaulted and raped her,” the complaint says. “These heinous acts have inflicted severe and dramatic damage on Ms. Taylor, irreparably harming her.”

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in federal court in Florida. It claims sexual battery, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment and invasion of privacy for unwanted and offensive sexual contact.

As described in the complaint, Taylor agreed to provide Brown physical training services in 2017—an arrangement that involved Taylor traveling to Brown’s homes in Pittsburgh and Florida.

At a Pittsburgh training session in early June 2017, Brown exposed himself in front of Taylor, and grabbed and kissed her without her consent, the lawsuit says. At a training visit in Miami later that month, the lawsuit says, Brown began masturbating behind Taylor while she watched a church service on her iPad, and ejaculated on her back. Taylor told Brown’s chef about the incident and said she would no longer work for Brown; soon afterward, he fired her via text message.

In text messages included in the lawsuit, Brown bragged and joked about what had happened:

Taylor cut off contact with Brown, but Brown contacted her in March 2018, apologizing and asking for her to train him again, the lawsuit says. Taylor agreed on the conditions that he stop flirting with her and provide her with hotel accommodations on training trips.

In Miami in May of 2018, when Taylor was about to leave Brown’s home, Brown cornered her and pulled her onto a bed, pushing her face into the mattress so that she could not fight back, the lawsuit says. She tried resisting him physically and pleading with him to “stop,” but Brown refused and “proceeded with great violence to penetrate her,” according to the lawsuit.

“As a rape victim of Antonio Brown, deciding to speak out has been an incredibly difficult decision,” Taylor said in a statement released through her lawyer. “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.”

“Mr. Brown denies each and every allegation in the lawsuit,” his attorney Darren Heitner said in a statement. “He will pursue all legal remedies to not only clear his name, but to also protect other professional athletes against false accusations.”

The full complaint is below:

Update (12:09 a.m. ET): In a statement, the Patriots said the NFL will be investigating the allegations against Brown: