Irvin is accused of sexual assault
NFL HALL of Famer Michael Irvin is under investigation for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman last week at a hotel in Fort Lauderdale.
A 27-year-old Florida woman told police that she and Irvin were out at a bar in the early hours of March 21 when they returned to his room at the W Fort Lauderdale, according to TMZ.
The woman said she began to feel sick once they were in Irvin’s room and recalled fighting him off before she awoke the next morning to find the former football star getting ready to leave the hotel. The woman returned home and called 911, telling cops she believed she had been drugged and raped. She later took a medical exam, per TMZ.
Fort Lauderdale police confirmed to the Daily News that a sexual battery incident report involving Irvin has been filed, but details have been heavily redacted. Police did not confirm details of TMZ’s report.
Irvin, 51, has denied the allegations through his attorney, saying he was only in the room for 15 minutes before leaving to catch a flight. The former wide receiver said he was at the bar with a group of people, including the woman, when he left for his hotel at around 4:30 a.m. and she followed. He claimed that he had no sexual contact with the woman and was accompanied by another man in the room. Irvin, who works as an analyst for NFL Network after a 12-year career with the Cowboys, said the woman, a cosmetologist, texted him the next day and requested he “come for a facial when you get back to Ft. Lauderdale,” according to TMZ.
The woman said that she texted Irvin asking if they had sex, and he responded by saying he wouldn’t do anything to harm her. “The allegations are completely false,” Irvin’s lawyer, Larry Friedman, told TMZ. “In the few hours since we’ve learned about them we’ve already discovered many red flags about this young woman’s background and the allegations she made against Michael. Even the complaint that she made specifically says she does not recall the events that took place. She was very drunk that night. Nothing happened and there was no assault.”
Friedman said his client was in Fort Lauderdale to visit his nieces and nephews, as well as his 90-year-old aunt, who was having a birthday party.