[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
Boxing legend George Foreman is being accused of sexually assaulting and abusing two teenage women practically 50 years in the past.
The boxer, who was the world’s heavyweight champ in 1973 and later loved a string of media appearances and enterprise ventures, is the main focus of two surprising new lawsuits filed this week in Los Angeles.
Related: Rapper Mystikal Charged With Rape, Robbery, And False Imprisonment In Louisiana
In accordance with a number of experiences, the authorized papers have been filed on Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Courtroom by two ladies. In every lawsuit, the ladies declare their fathers labored with Foreman throughout his rise within the boxing world. Together with it, he allegedly began grooming them as youngsters.
The ladies, who’re recognized within the lawsuits beneath pseudonyms Denise S. and Gwen H., declare they met Foreman within the late Nineteen Sixties and early Nineteen Seventies. Foreman is listed as “Doe” defendant within the fits, too. Nonetheless, THR notes the paperwork establish the unnamed man as a former boxer who first went professional in 1969 and defeated Joe Frazier for the heavyweight championship in 1973 — so it’s undoubtedly Foreman.
As for specifics, Denise S. claims she first met Foreman when she was 8 years outdated. She alleged within the docs that he groomed her for a number of years till a fateful telephone name in hear early teen years:
“When Plaintiff was 13 years old, Doe called Plaintiff at her home in Hayward, California and asked Plaintiff if she knew how to masturbate. During the call, Doe gave plaintiff instructions on how to masturbate herself.”
OMG…
The girl went on to assert Foreman allegedly raped her a number of instances in 1976. She identifies these alleged assaults as occurring at a lodge in San Francisco.
Within the second swimsuit, Gwen H. claimed her father labored as an advisor to the star throughout his profession. After first assembly the boxer as a baby, Foreman later invited her to his condo when she was 15 years outdated. The submitting alleges Foreman threatened her with the lack of her father’s job if she didn’t do as he requested:
“DOE threatened that if she didn’t comply, her dad would lose his job. DOE then instructed Plaintiff to remove her clothes. Feeling the duress and coercion of this threat, Plaintiff complied with DOE’s commands.”
Gwen additionally alleged Foreman raped her “several times” when she was 15 and 16. The fits declare there are supposedly different ladies who have been allegedly assaulted by the athlete, too. Each complaints cite sexual battery and intentional infliction of emotional misery. Every lawsuit seeks greater than $25 million in damages, per The Hollywood Reporter.
In an announcement first revealed by TMZ, the 73-year-old former professional athlete denied the allegations. The boxer stated:
“Over the past six months, two women have been trying to extort millions of dollars each from me and my family. They are falsely claiming that I sexually abused them over 45 years ago in the 1970s. I adamantly and categorically deny these allegations. The pride I take in my reputation means as much to me as my sports accomplishments, and I will not be intimidated by baseless threats and lies. I am, and always will be, guided by my faith and trust in God. I will work with my lawyers to fully and truthfully expose my accusers’ scheme and defend myself in court. I don’t pick fights, but I don’t run away from them either.”
Wow.
As THR notes, this lawsuit was capable of be filed after so a few years because of an an modification the state of California handed in 2020 to increase the statute of limitations on sure intercourse crimes. The modification is supposed to offer victims of childhood sexual assault extra time to file redress.
[Image via ESPN/YouTube]
