Marriott is firing back this week at Michael Irvin and his legal team after they had a press conference on the defamation lawsuit following their viewing of the surveillance video.
For the first time, we’re hearing the accusations that resulted in Cowboys Hall of Famer Michael Irvin being bumped from NFL Network Super Bowl coverage.
Per USA Today, a female hotel staffer accused him of “unwelcome sexual advances.”
Marriott says it released these allegations in a court filing because of false statements Irvin and his attorney made during a news conference Wednesday.
“Irvin’s counsel provided a self-serving, inaccurate summary of the video footage Marriott produced, including his claim that the footage proves Irvin did nothing wrong and then turned the microphone over to Irvin to make racially charged statements,” Marriott said in the filing.
Marriott further claimed Irvin approached the accuser while he “appeared to be visibly intoxicated” and he aggressively touched her while speaking on how attractive she was.
“Irvin also reached out and touched the Victim’s arm during this conversation without her consent, causing her to step back, becoming visibly uncomfortable. Irvin then asked the Victim whether she knew anything about having a “big Black man inside of [her],” reads the lawsuit.
“Irvin then attempted to grab the Victim’s hand again and said he was ‘sorry if he brought up bad memories’ for her.’ The Victim pulled her hand away and tried to back away from Irvin as he continued to move towards her.”
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The NFL Network analyst “stated that he would come back to find [the woman] sometime that week when she was working.” Irvin also allegedly “leered” at the woman as she walked away. Another hotel employee reportedly overheard him saying “She bad,” and “I want to hit that.”
The lawsuit claims that two other hotel employees noticed that the accuser was uncomfortable in the situation.
He then “slapped himself in the face three times, saying ‘keep it together Mike.’”
She would go on to report the incident the following day. She would also be interviewed by NFL investigators and Irvin left the hotel that evening.
Irvin wasted no time speaking out when the initial news broke. He stated “It was a minute meeting somewhere in the lobby. I don’t even remember it really because I had a few drinks, to tell you the truth.”
After a second judge ordered them to, Marriott turned over video of the incident to Irvin’s legal team and asked the court for a protective order to ensure the privacy and safety of the people visible in the footage in case it becomes public.
Irvin’s attorney says the allegations are “hogwash,” and they now plan to release security video of the incident.
Irving is suing Marriott in a $100 million defamation case.
