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Jimmie Allen has been dropped by his record label BBR Music Group, the company confirmed to Billboard, just hours after a second woman sued the singer for sexual assault.
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“BBR Music Group has dissolved its relationship with Jimmie Allen, he is no longer an active artist on its roster,” said the label in a brief statement sent to Billboard. Variety first broke the news of BBR’s move and the second lawsuit Friday (June 9).
BBR Music Group had earlier placed Allen on suspension after he was previously accused of repeated rape and sexual harassment by a “Jane Doe” who had worked as a day-to-day manager at the singer’s former management company, Wide Open Music. In the wake of that May 11 allegation, Allen was also placed on suspension by his booking agency, UTA, and his then-management company, The Familie; while his public relations company, Full Coverage Communications, stopped working with him altogether. He was additionally dropped from the performer lineup at CMA Fest.
Allen has strongly denied the allegations from the first lawsuit, calling them “false” and vowing to “mount a vigorous defense” and “take all other legal action necessary to protect my reputation.”
In the suit filed Friday, an unnamed woman accused Allen of battery, assault and invasion of privacy. She claimed that after meeting Allen on a flight, she agreed to meet him in Las Vegas in July 2022. Among other claims, she alleged that while having sex with Allen in his Las Vegas hotel room, he ejaculated inside her without her consent and secretly filmed the encounter.
The woman further claims that, after being unable to fully delete the video from the sleeping Allen’s phone, she left with it and booked a new flight back to her home in Sacramento, where she reported the incident and turned the phone over to the local police department. The Sacramento police subsequently reported it to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police, though Billboard‘s request for any public records linked to the report, submitted to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police through an online portal, was not immediately fulfilled.
The attorney who filed both cases, Elizabeth A. Fegan, said in a statement to Billboard that the new claims represented a “distinct pattern of behavior” by Allen and said she had “heard from others who share similar experiences.”
Allen’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment on the second lawsuit. UTA and The Familie did not immediately respond to request for comment on whether their status with Allen had changed following the new charges.
Allen’s career had been on an upward trajectory since his first single for BBR, “Best Shot,” hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart in 2018. He scored two subsequent No. 1s with “Make Me Want To” and “Freedom Was A Highway” (with Brad Paisley), while “Down Home” reached No. 2. BBR was working Allen’s newest single, “Be Alright,” to country radio last month when the first lawsuit was filed, but stopped working it after the label suspended Allen. It reached No. 57 before quickly falling off the chart.
A former Playboy model who alleges Bill Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her and another woman at his home in 1969 sued him Thursday under a new California law that suspends the statute of limitations on sex abuse claims.
In her lawsuit, Victoria Valentino, 80, says she was an actress and singer 54 years ago, when she met Cosby, now 85. The comedian and actor later approached her at a Los Angeles café, where he spotted her crying over the recent drowning death of her 6-year-old son.
The Associated Press does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly.
Cosby offered to pay for a spa treatment for Valentino and a friend, and then sent a chauffeured car to pick the women up for dinner. That evening at a steakhouse, Cosby gave them each a pill, she said in the court filing.
“Here! Take this!” the lawsuit alleges Cosby said to them. “It will make you feel better. It will make us ALL feel better.”
Cosby then drove the women to his house, where Valentino passed out on a couch, and later woke up and witnessed him sexually assaulting her unnamed friend, according to the lawsuit. The court documents allege Cosby then “engaged in forced sexual intercourse” with Valentino while she was incapacitated from the drug.
Valentino’s allegations come on the heels of lawsuits last year by six Cosby accusers in New York under a similar provision known as a “lookback” law that allows adults to file sexual abuse cases for allegations that had fallen outside the statute of limitations.
The former “Cosby Show” star, who has been accused of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment by at least 60 women, has denied all allegations involving sex crimes. He was the first celebrity tried and convicted in the #MeToo era — and spent nearly three years at a state prison near Philadelphia before a higher court threw out the conviction and released him in 2021.
His spokesperson, Andrew Wyatt, said Thursday that Valentino’s lawsuit lacks “any proof or facts” and that so-called lookback laws violate constitutional rights aimed at protecting crime victims and “those that are accused of a crime.”
“What graveyard can Mr. Cosby visit, in order to dig up potential witnesses to testify on his behalf?” Wyatt asked in a statement. “America is continuing to see that this is a formula to make sure that no more Black Men in America accumulate the American Dream that was secured by Mr. Cosby.”
The lawsuit in LA County Superior Court was filed nearly two years after Cosby left prison when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his 2018 sexual assault conviction. They found he gave incriminating testimony in a deposition about the encounter only after believing he had immunity from prosecution. The trial judge and an intermediate appeals court had found no evidence of such immunity.
Earlier this year, a Los Angeles jury awarded $500,000 to a woman who said Cosby sexually abused her at the Playboy Mansion when she was a teenager in 1975.
Seven other accusers received a settlement from Cosby’s insurers in the wake of the Pennsylvania conviction over a defamation lawsuit they had filed in Massachusetts. Their lawsuit said that Cosby and his agents disparaged them in denying their allegations of abuse.
Valentino’s lawsuit requests a jury trial and seeks unspecified punitive damages.
Public relations company Full Coverage Communications is no longer working with singer-songwriter Jimmie Allen, sources tell Billboard. The news is the latest fallout after allegations of sexual abuse were lodged against Allen by a former day-to-day manager via a civil lawsuit filed last week.
Following the allegations, Allen was suspended by his label, BBR Music Group, which included halting radio promotion for his current single, “Be Alright.” Additionally, he was suspended by his booking agency, UTA, as well as his current management home, The Familie, which Allen joined in late 2022. CMA Fest also dropped him from the lineup.
Alleng’s accuser claims that his alleged abuse took place over 18 months from 2020 to 2022, and claims that she was fired after she complained about his behavior.
“Plaintiff expressed in words and actions that Jimmie Allen’s conduct was unwelcome, including pushing him away, sitting where he could not reach her, telling him she was uncomfortable and no, and crying uncontrollably,” her attorneys stated in the complaint filed Thursday (May 11). “However, Allen made clear that plaintiff’s job was dependent on her staying silent about his conduct.”
The artist denied all allegations of wrongdoing in a statement shared with Billboard at the time but admitted to a sexual relationship with his accuser. “I’ve worked incredibly hard to build my career, and I intend to mount a vigorous defense to her claims and take all other legal action necessary to protect my reputation,” he said.
Also on Wednesday, Allen broke his silence with a series of posts via Instagram Stories that seemingly pointed to the allegations against him. In one of those posts, Allen stated, “We Gonna Be Alright … This Too Shall Pass,” along with prayer hands and fist emojis. Notably, the post incorporated the title of “Be Alright,” which currently sits at No. 60 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, a three-position drop from the previous week.
In a separate Instagram Stories post, Allen shared a promotional photo of the song “God Only Knows,” recorded by the CCM sibling duo For King & Country. Allen tagged the duo in the photo and commented, “He knows!,” accompanied by the same emojis as the previous post.
Full Coverage Communications clients include Anderson .Paak, 5 Seconds of Summer, Earth Wind & Fire and Saweetie.
Stories about sexual assault allegations can be traumatizing for survivors of sexual assault. If you or anyone you know needs support, you can reach out to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). The organization provides free, confidential support to sexual assault victims. Call RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE) or visit the anti-sexual violence organization’s website for more information.
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A former aide to Rudy Giuliani has filed a lawsuit alleging that he forced her into sexual acts while working for him, among other disturbing claims involving former President Donald Trump.
On Monday (May 15), former employee Noelle Dunphy filed a $10 million civil lawsuit against the former attorney to Donald Trump for sexual assault, wage theft and other misconduct including “alcohol-drenched rants that included sexist, racist, and antisemitic remarks,” according to the filing.
Dunphy went to work for Giuliani as director of business development with the former New York City mayor “abusing Ms. Dunphy almost immediately after she started” working with him in 2019 when he was still in service as a lawyer to the former President. “He made clear that satisfying his sexual demands-which came virtually anytime, anywhere-was an absolute requirement of her employment and of his legal representation,” the lawsuit states. The suit describes how Giuliani allegedly forced her to perform oral sex on him soon after she began working for him.
The filing discloses further lurid details, such as requiring Dunphy to record her interactions with Giuliani “anytime, anywhere, as well as Giuliani’s interactions with others,” in addition to his failure to pay her a salary of $1 million that he had to defer because he was in the midst of a turbulent divorce from his ex-wife. The 70-page suit also alleges that Giuliani often demanded that she work naked, in short shorts emblazoned with the American flag or in a bikini. Dunphy states she was fired in January 2021.
Another shocking detail from the lawsuit alleges that Giuliani claimed that he had “immunity,” going on to tell “her that he was selling pardons for $2 million, which he and President Trump would split.” He also allegedly told her to funnel pardon requests outside of the Office of the Pardon Attorney so they wouldn’t be subject to Freedom of Information Act requests. That conversation wasn’t recorded, but Dunphy’s attorney Justin Kelton noted that another Giuliani associate, Lev Parnas, could corroborate the details as he was present for it.
Giuliani denied the claims in the lawsuit, with his spokesman Ted Goodman releasing a statement: “Mayor Rudy Giuliani unequivocally denies the allegations raised by Ms. Dunphy. Mayor Giuliani’s lifetime of public service speaks for itself and he will pursue all available remedies and counterclaims.”
Jimmie Allen‘s management company The Familie and booking agency UTA both announced they were suspending their work with the country singer-songwriter on Friday (May 12), following a new lawsuit alleging him of rape, sexual assault and battery.
“Given the nature of the allegations in the lawsuit filed on Thursday, The Familie has decided to suspend management activities with Jimmie Allen effective immediately,” a spokesperson for the management firm told Billboard in a statement. The Familie began working with Allen in 2022, after he parted ways with his former management company, Wide Open Music.
“We have suspended our representation of Jimmie Allen due to the recent allegations against him, which we take seriously,” said a UTA spokesperson in a separate statement.
In a civil lawsuit filed Thursday in Tennessee federal court, an anonymous “Jane Doe” accuser says that Allen “manipulated and used his power” over her job as a day-to-day manager in order to “sexually harass and abuse her” over a period of 18 months from 2020 to 2022.
“Plaintiff expressed in words and actions that Jimmie Allen’s conduct was unwelcome, including pushing him away, sitting where he could not reach her, telling him she was uncomfortable and no, and crying uncontrollably,” the woman’s attorneys wrote in the complaint. “However, Allen made clear that plaintiff’s job was dependent on her staying silent about his conduct.”
Allen denied the allegations in a statement to Billboard, saying, “It is deeply troubling and hurtful that someone I counted as one of my closest friends, colleagues and confidants would make allegations that have no truth to them whatsoever. I acknowledge that we had a sexual relationship — one that lasted for nearly two years. During that time she never once accused me of any wrongdoing, and she spoke of our relationship and friendship as being something she wanted to continue indefinitely.”
The artist continued to say he intends to “mount a vigorous defense to her claims and take all other legal action necessary to protect my reputation.”
Since the report came to light, Allen has also been suspended by his record label, BBR Music Group, which includes halting of promotion for his latest radio single, “Be Alright,” which fell 57-60 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart dated May 20. He has also been pulled from the performer lineup at CMA Fest, which is slated from June 8-11 in downtown Nashville.
The suit follows previous news that Allen and his wife Alexis Gale announced their separation on April 21; at that time, they also shared that Gale is pregnant with their third child.
Assistance on this story provided by Melinda Newman.
Stories about sexual assault allegations can be traumatizing for survivors of sexual assault. If you or anyone you know needs support, you can reach out to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). The organization provides free, confidential support to sexual assault victims. Call RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE) or visit the anti-sexual violence organization’s website for more information. (edited)
Country music star Jimmie Allen‘s label BBR Music Group has suspended him following allegations of sexual assault in a lawsuit filed Thursday (May 11) by his ex-manager.
“In light of today’s allegations against Jimmie Allen, BBR Music Group has decided to suspend all activity with him, effective immediately,” says a statement from the label. That includes ceasing radio promotion on his current single, “Be Alright,” which climbs 59-57 on this Billboard’s Country Airplay chart dated May 13.
The move came hours after news broke that Allen was facing a lawsuit that claims he repeatedly sexually harassed and raped a woman on his management team — and that his management company then fired her when she complained.
In a civil lawsuit filed Thursday in Tennessee federal court — first reported by Variety and independently obtained by Billboard — an anonymous “Jane Doe” accuser says that Allen “manipulated and used his power” over her job as a day-to-day manager in order to “sexually harass and abuse her” over a period of 18 months from 2020 to 2022.
“Plaintiff expressed in words and actions that Jimmie Allen’s conduct was unwelcome, including pushing him away, sitting where he could not reach her, telling him she was uncomfortable and no, and crying uncontrollably,” the woman’s lawyers write in the complaint. “However, Allen made clear that plaintiff’s job was dependent on her staying silent about his conduct.”
In a statement to Billboard, Allen admitted to a sexual relationship with his accuser but denied all allegations of wrongdoing and vowed to defend himself against the lawsuit.
“It is deeply troubling and hurtful that someone I counted as one of my closest friends, colleagues and confidants would make allegations that have no truth to them whatsoever,” Allen says. “I acknowledge that we had a sexual relationship — one that lasted for nearly two years. During that time she never once accused me of any wrongdoing, and she spoke of our relationship and friendship as being something she wanted to continue indefinitely.”
“Only after things ended between us, did she hire a lawyer to reach out and ask for money, which leads me to question her motives,” Allen’s statement continues. “The simple fact is, her accusations are not only false, but also extremely damaging. I’ve worked incredibly hard to build my career, and I intend to mount a vigorous defense to her claims and take all other legal action necessary to protect my reputation.”
Allen’s attorney did not immediately return an additional request for comment on BBR Music Group’s decision to suspend its relationship with the star.
The complaint also names management firm Wide Open Music and founder Ash Bowers, claiming they did not do enough to protect their employee from it from Allen’s abusive behavior. When the woman formally disclosed that she had been “raped and sexually abused” by the star, her lawsuit says that Wide Open Music and Bowers then fired her in retaliation.
In his own statement sent to Billboard, Bowers strongly denied the allegations. He said Wide Open Music had learned of Allen’s abuse on Oct. 4, 2022, and had “immediately ended our professional relationship” at that point.
“Any assertion that she ever raised the existence of a sexual or physical relationship between Mr. Allen and her (or that Wide Open Music or I was aware of any such relationship) before October 4, 2022 is patently and objectively false,” Bowers said.
Bowers also denied that the lawsuit’s claim that the accuser had been terminated in retaliation: “Once WOM no longer managed Mr. Allen, that role was gone and, furthermore, WOM has transitioned out of artist management completely to development and publishing. Accordingly, any claim that our professional relationship with her ended due to retaliation is also false.”
In her lawsuit, Allen’s accuser makes graphic and disturbing allegations of sexual assault.
She says the star began by repeatedly sexually harassing her, “making comments about her status as a single female, her innocence, and how hot she looked” and asking her “personal sexual questions,” including whether or not she was a virgin.
According to the lawsuit, she later began to receive unwanted touching and hugging. Then, after a taping of American Idol, she says Allen sexually assaulted her while she was “incapacitated and incapable of giving consent.”
“While she only drank a couple of glasses of white wine, plaintiff does not remember anything after dinner that evening — she lost consciousness and awoke naked in her hotel room several hours later, with Jimmie Allen insisting she take Plan B as soon as possible,” her lawyers say, referring to a brand of morning-after contraceptive.
The lawsuit claims that the abuse then continued after that first incident in many additional ways.
“When plaintiff drove Allen to and from events, he sexually abused her at red lights, in green rooms, on airplanes, and in other places she was required to be to support him at events,” her lawyers say. “He raped her in private while choking her. He videotaped multiple sexual encounters in order to blackmail her to stay silent.”
Months later, when Doe says she was “on the verge of a nervous breakdown and considered committing suicide,” she claims she finally disclosed the alleged abuse to Bowers and asked to be reassigned to a different artist. After allegedly telling her, “I can’t hear any more of this,” Bowers then allegedly texted her that she would be placed on leave.
“On or about October 17, 2022, Bowers texted plaintiff stating, ‘[W]e are still unwinding things with Jimmie. Until that process is complete — we need you to continue to stay/work from home. We will update you once that’s completed,’” her complaint reads. “On October 26, 2022 … WOM terminated Plaintiff.”
In technical terms, Thursday’s lawsuit includes claims of battery, assault and false imprisonment against Allen; multiple claims of negligence against Wide Open Music and Bowers; and claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress and violations of federal sex trafficking statutes against all three.
The case was filed by attorney Elizabeth Fegan, who has previously represented victims of disgraced executive Harvey Weinstein and Dr. George Tyndall, a campus gynecologist at the University of Southern California accused of sexually abusing hundreds of patients.
Allen, a Delaware native, was slated to give the commencement address at the University of Delaware tomorrow (May 12), but has been replaced by Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester. According to a press release from the University, Allen informed the University he would no long be able to participate in the ceremony.
Assistance on this story provided by Jessica Nicholson.
Stories about sexual assault allegations can be traumatizing for survivors of sexual assault. If you or anyone you know needs support, you can reach out to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). The organization provides free, confidential support to sexual assault victims. Call RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE) or visit the anti-sexual violence organization’s website for more information. (edited)
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In a striking moment, former President Donald Trump was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation in a case brought against him by a Manhattan jury.
The civil case came to a historic conclusion on Tuesday (May 9th) in a Manhattan courtroom as the jury composed of six men and three women found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming former magazine writer E. Jean Carroll. The decision meant that Carroll had sufficiently proven her allegations that Trump had committed the abuse upon her over 30 years ago in a dressing room of the Bergdorf Goodman department store.
While the jury did not find that the former president raped Carroll per her claims, they did award her $5 million in damages. “I filed this lawsuit against Donald Trump to clear my name and to get my life back,” Carroll said in a statement after the verdict. “Today, the world finally knows the truth. This victory is not just for me but for every woman who has suffered because she was not believed.” Judge Lewis Kaplan informed jurors that they could identify themselves, but advised them not to. “My advice to you is not to identify yourselves. Not now and not for a long time,” he said in his instructions.
In a post made to his Truth Social account after the 3 P.M. verdict, Trump defiantly wrote: “I have absolutely no idea who this woman is. This verdict is a disgrace — a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time!” His lawyer, Joseph Tacopina said to reporters that they plan to appeal the verdict. He also complained about the jury’s anonymity with their identity kept hidden even from the lawyers, claiming a “bias displayed by the court.” Trump did not testify, but the jury did see the deposition he recorded for the case. He faces no criminal
The decision has left the Republican Party with a quandary regarding their support of Trump for his 2024 presidential aspirations, with some still standing with the twice-impeached president. “That jury is a joke, the whole case is a joke,” said Florida GOP Senator Marco Rubio. Others like Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska felt the verdict was just. “I think he showed a lot of disrespect for the jury and the court… The way he treated them, he got what he deserved,” he said afterward.
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Charlamagne Tha God has made a request for a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit from a sexual assault case, claiming that there is a lack of evidence.
According to reports, The Breakfast Club host and his legal team filed a motion requesting the dismissal of a lawsuit against him by alleged victim Jessica Reid. The lawsuit, filed last year, accused Charlamagne of “willfully, unlawfully, and feloniously engage in penile/vaginal intercourse with a fifteen-year-old female child” when he was 22 in Charleston, South Carolina. Reid stated that the host spread “false, insulting” claims about her when he came forward about the 2001 incident, including calling her a “groupie.”
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“[Alleged victim Jessica Reid] has persisted in broadly disseminating her unsubstantiated claims, ignoring that the South Carolina Solicitor in 2018 declined her request to re-open the case due to a lack of evidence while confirming that no basis existed to bring sexual assault charges against Charlamagne,” the motion reads. “Witnesses had attested to the fact that Charlamagne had already left the party when the alleged assault occurred.”
The 37-year-old pointed to him telling his side of the story in his book, Black Privilege, calling his depiction of the incident “wrong, hurtful and defaming.” She is seeking unspecified damages and a full retraction of his statements. In the lawsuit, Reid alleged that she met the shock jock through a mutual friend, and attended a birthday party thrown for him at the Short Stay Naval Recreation Center on June 8th, 2001. She would allege that she imbibed a drink given to her by Charlamagne, which left her dizzy to the point of collapse. It was at that moment two other men had taken her upstairs, where she was assaulted. She alleges that Charlamagne also assaulted her afterward. Reid previously claimed that her mother actively blocked her from cooperating with law enforcement officials who were investigating the incident.
Charlamagne Tha God would be indicted on the charges of “contributing to the delinquency of a minor” and criminal sexual conduct with a minor in 2001 but would go on to accept a plea deal the next year that was offered by prosecutors due to lack of evidence. He would eventually be sentenced to three years probation.
A Las Vegas judge on Wednesday (March 29) reportedly refused to dismiss a countersuit filed by Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter against a woman who has accused him of rape, rejecting her arguments that he’s merely using the case to “harass and intimidate” her.
Shannon “Shay” Ruth, who sued Carter in December over allegations that he raped her after a 2001 concert, had asked the judge to dismiss his defamation countersuit under Nevada’s so-called anti-SLAPP law — a statute designed to prevent lawsuits that are filed as retaliation against free speech.
But at a court hearing Wednesday, Judge Nancy Alff denied that anti-SLAPP motion and allowed Carter’s countersuit to move forward, according to a report by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Carter reportedly appeared in court with his lawyers on Wednesday, though Ruth was not physically present.
Ruth sued Carter in December, claiming he raped her when she was 17 years old following a 2001 concert in Washington state. Now 39, Ruth says she waited more than 20 years to come forward because she was afraid of retaliation.
“He told plaintiff she would go to jail if she told anyone what happened between them,” Ruth’s lawyers wrote at the time. “He said that he was Nick Carter, and that he had the power to do that. Due to his various threats, plaintiff did not report Carter’s crimes for many years.”
Carter fired back with a countersuit in February, claiming he’d been the victim of a “five-year conspiracy” that aimed to “to harass, defame and extort” him by exploiting the #MeToo movement. He said Ruth was “a vulnerable and highly impressionable individual” who was manipulated into making false accusations by Melissa Schuman Henschel — a former member of the teen-pop group Dream who previously accused Carter of assaulting her in 2003.
Weeks later, Ruth’s attorneys labeled Carter’s lawsuit a SLAPP suit, saying the defamation allegations had been brought with “no other purpose than to harass, intimate, and potentially silence plaintiff.”
“He seeks to use his wealth and celebrity status to outlast plaintiff,” Ruth’s lawyers wrote. “All while hiding behind being the ‘victim’ of the ‘#MeToo’ movement and the preposterous notion that plaintiff is only seeking attention and publicity.”
Wednesday’s ruling, which denied Ruth’s motion, came after Carter’s attorneys submitted detailed arguments backing up their contention that Ruth’s allegations were false and that his allegations of a conspiracy were plausible. His filings included testimony from 12 witnesses who supported his side of the story, including one who called Ruth’s story “factually impossible.”
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A woman who works for Stanford University has been charged with lying about being sexually assaulted by Black men on two occasions last year.
According to reports, Jennifer Ann Gries was arrested and charged on Monday (March 13th) with two counts of perjury among other offenses by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. Gries, an employee at Stanford Housing Services, claimed she was sexually assaulted by a Black man in a garage on campus last August. Another claim followed this that she was again attacked by a Black man in a storage closet two months later. Gries would state that the first attack left her pregnant with twins.
The claims triggered safety alerts on a campus-wide level. Gries had also applied to obtain money from the California Victim of Crimes Board (CalVCB), a public fund claiming the attacks forced her to have a miscarriage. The results from her sexual assault examination kits were found to be inconsistent with her story, and there was no presence of male DNA found in them.
Police officers still investigated the allegations, which led them to discover that the 25-year-old woman had a grudge against a Black male co-worker for “false intention” and made the claims out of anger. Detectives uncovered text messages Gries sent to another co-worker. “Can’t I just make his life a living hell myself,” Gries wrote. “I need to start standing up for myself…. I am so annoyed…. I’m coming up with a plan. That way he’s shitting his pants for multiple days”. The co-worker denied having any sexual or romantic contact with Gries and stated to investigators that he felt “scarred” over the accusations. “This is disgusting. I don’t feel human. I don’t feel human at all.”, he said.
Gries wrote a letter of apology to the victim during an interview with an investigator in January of this year. She is currently facing incarceration if convicted. “This is a rare and deeply destructive crime,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in the press release. “Our hearts go out to the falsely accused. Our hearts go out to students who had to look over their shoulders on their way to class. Our hearts go out to legitimate sexual assault victims who wonder if they will be believed.” Stanford University is dealing with the aftermath, still reeling after the infamous case of Brock Turner, a swimmer at the school who only received a six-month sentence in 2016 after sexually assaulting a woman at the campus. Judge Aaron Persky, who handed down the sentence, would be recalled by voters statewide in 2018.
