Ronaldo’s girlfriend backs her man af ter rape claim
CRISTIANO Ronaldo’s girlfriend has issued a gushing statement in support of the soccer star amid allegations he raped a model in a Las Vegas hotel bedroom in 2009.
Georgina Rodríguez wrote on Instagram that the Juventus and Portugal player was always able to ‘transform the obstacles’ that were put in his path in a message signed off by five heart emojis.
She also wrote ‘I love you’ as she posed wearing a mini skirt and black high heels looking at the camera with a raised left eyebrow.
Ms Rodriguez posted the picture after an astonishing report in German magazine Der Spiegel alleged Ronaldo had raped Kathryn Mayorga and paid her $375,000 (€323,000) hush money.
The sum was the equivalent of just a week’s wages from Real Madrid, where he was playing at the time.
In an Instagram video, a relaxed Ronaldo said the reports were ‘fake news’ and suggested Ms Mayorga
Message signed off with five hearts
was trying to make herself famous by associating herself with him.
In her Instagram post, Ms Rodriguez, a 23-year-old Spaniard, said to Ronaldo: ‘You always transform the obstacles that are put in your way into impulse and strength to show how great you are.
‘Thank you for making us enjoy each game. Always more and better. I love you @cristiano.’
Ms Mayorga, 34, now an elementary school teacher, told Der Spiegel that she met Ronaldo on June 13, 2009 at the Rain nightclub in Las Vegas when she was a 25-year-old aspiring model.
She and some friends went back to his suite at the Hotel Palms Place where, in the bathroom, he allegedly asked her to touch him and perform a sex act.
When she refused he allegedly pulled her into a bedroom and raped her, without using a condom.
Ms Mayorga said it took her years to get over the incident and that she had ‘serious breakdowns’ that left her needing extensive therapy.
She said that rather than going through the trauma of a court case, she decided to reach an out-of-court settlement with Ronaldo.
As part of the process, it is understood Ronaldo’s lawyers sent him a number of questionnaires asking for his version of what happened.
According to Der Spiegel, who claim to have seen a copy of the documents, Ronaldo’s account of the evening was conflicting.
In an early draft he is reported to have said: ‘She said no and stop several times.’
But, in a later version of the document, he apparently told his legal team sex had been consensual.
Ms Mayorga said that she kept quiet until the #MeToo movement inspired her to speak out and because she feels Ronaldo’s lawyers violated the non-disclosure agreement on a technicality.
She has hired new lawyers and on Thursday they filed a civil case at a court in Las Vegas under the allegation of ‘Intentional Misconduct’.
‘I am a happy man and all good’
Ronaldo is named as a party, as is Ms Mayorga. So far, Ronaldo’s only response has been his Instagram live video in which he smiled and seemed amused by the claims when asked about them.
He said: ‘No, no, no, no, no. What they said today? Fake, fake news.
‘They want to promote my name. It’s normal. They want to be famous to say my name, but it is part of the job. I am a happy man and all good.’
Lawyers for Ronaldo said in a statement that the allegations were ‘blatantly illegal’. His solicitor Christian Schertz said the report was ‘an inadmissible reporting of suspicions in the area of privacy’.