Everything You Need to Know About Antonio Brown's Sexual Assault Lawsuit

So far, the 2019 NFL campaign has been all about one man: Antonio Brown. Brown has only played in one game, but his name has been a mainstay on both sports talk and national news programs.

The reasons for Brown’s headline dominance are numerous and widely varying. He’s generated buzz for football-specific reasons—his trade demand from Pittsburgh, his dramatic falling out with Oakland, his all-too-predictable resurrection with New England. But he’s also been in the news for a host of very serious off-the-field problems that have led to his character being called into question.

With Brown gearing up for the Patriots’ Week 3 matchup with the Jets, his future with the team—and in the NFL—is uncertain. He currently faces litigation in Florida for three alleged instances of sexual assault. Here is everything you need to know about the ongoing case and his ongoing legal issues.

A woman, 28-year-old Britney Taylor, filed a lawsuit against Brown, 31, on September 11 in the Southern District of Florida. In the court filing, Taylor alleges that Brown sexually assaulted her three times in 2017 and 2018 and says the third time it happened, Brown raped her.

Brown and Taylor first got to know each other in college. Both were student-athletes at Central Michigan—Taylor a gymnast from Memphis, and Brown a star on the college’s football team (he was a three-year standout before foregoing his senior season to enter the 2010 draft). According to the suit, Brown was “well known on campus.”

The two met in 2010, when they attended a Bible study through the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. At Taylor’s first visit to the group, she was paired up with Brown as her partner. He soon went off to the league and she transferred to LSU, but they stayed in touch.

She says three years after they met—while Brown was establishing himself in the NFL with the Steelers—Brown contacted Taylor on social media and asked for a revealing photo. She sent a photo of her face but refused to send something more revealing, in the process “reminding Brown that they were just friends.” They then stopped communicating for about four years.

Taylor Becomes Brown's Trainer

Brown became a trainer and opened a gymnastics training center in Memphis, fulfilling a dream, and the gym grew quickly. Her lawsuit states that in 2017, Brown revived their relationship through Facebook, asking how she was doing and requesting her training services. He said he was aiming to improve his flexibility, strength in his ankles, and his fast-twitch muscles. Taylor agreed to the arrangement.

As part of their agreement, she would travel to Brown’s homes in Pittsburgh and Miami, where he did much of his training. But their relationship was platonic from her viewpoint, as the lawsuit states: “Ms. Taylor never dated or had an interest in any romantic relationship with Brown. Their relationship, as far as Ms. Taylor believed and behaved, was that of a ‘brother-sister’ type.”

The lawsuit states that, as they rebuilt their friendship through their trainer-trainee partnership, Brown “preyed on Ms. Taylor’s kindness and her religious devotion.” Religion is a central theme in the case.

According to Taylor, Brown portrayed himself as committed to his faith, and this shared connection formed the foundation of their bond, leading to her trusting him. However, the case states, “he used manipulation and false promises to lure her into his world, and once there, he sexually assaulted and raped her.”

In sum, the case includes details of three alleged sexual assaults The first two occurred in June 2017, during the offseason following Brown’s seventh NFL season, by which point he was considered one of the top players in the league.

May 2018: Alleged Rape

In messages sent in February and March 2018, Brown showed regret. He said he respected Taylor, asked for her forgiveness, and expressed that he wanted her to train him again. She agreed on the condition that he stop flirting with her and set up hotel accommodations for her. They began working together again on the weekends in April 2018.

Almost one year after the first two incidents, Taylor alleges Brown raped her in Miami. This is where the case gets really in-depth and particularly troubling. The filing states that in May, following a night out at a club with friends, they returned to Brown’s home. Taylor was staying at a nearby hotel, but she went inside the home to use the bathroom and get some food.

Before she could leave, however, Brown is said to have cornered her, saying he wanted to talk. He allegedly then forced her onto a bed, pushed her face into the mattress, and forced himself upon her, saying “you know you want this.”

According to the case, “She screamed and cried throughout the entire rape, repeatedly shouting ‘no’ and ‘stop.’ Brown refused and penetrated her.”

The next day, Taylor—she had driven back to her hotel following the incident—returned to Brown’s home to retrieve her belongings before flying back to Memphis. She told Brown they needed to talk about the previous evening, and Brown said, “you made me feel like a real rapist.” This trip marked the end of their professional relationship.

The case says Taylor has been “severely traumatized” by Brown’s attacks and has “suffered near-daily panic attacks” while wrestling with suicidal thoughts. It also states that she has taken a polygraph test that has verified her accounts are fully accurate. She is now seeking monetary damages from Brown.

Two other incidents that, though not directly related, also reflected poorly on Brown’s character came to light this week following an explosive report from Sports Illustrated’s Robert Klemko.

First, another woman alleged that Brown had sexually assaulted her. The woman, who is in her 20s and is anonymous in the piece, says she was hired by Brown to paint a mural of him. The wide out had discovered her work during an artwork auction at a charity softball game in Pittsburgh.

However, while she was at his home and was painting, she turned and found Brown standing behind her and "naked, holding a small hand towel over his genitals."

She recounted what happened: “I was about 40 percent done [with the painting]...I’m on my knees painting the bottom, and he walks up to me butt-ass naked, with a hand cloth covering his [penis] and starts having a conversation with me...I just kept my cool and kept painting. After that, it all ended abruptly.”

In the same article, a Pittsburgh-area doctor said Brown owed him $11,500 in unpaid fees.

Dr. Victor Prisk, who runs Prisk Orthopaedics and Wellness, has filed a lawsuit in Pennsylvania seeking compensation from Brown. Prisk said that during an August 2018 appointment, as he tested Brown’s body fat percentage, the wideout farted and laughed about it...after showing up three hours late to that appointment. TMZ obtained video of the farting incident.

“It seemed just childish to me,” Prisk said, according to Sports Illustrated. “I’m a doctor and this man is farting in my face.”

According to Prisk, Brown already had a “flighty” reputation for failing to pay bills, so he was hesitant to take Brown on as a client. Echoing that assertion, Sean Pena, a speed trainer who worked with Brown this summer, is also suing Brown—for $7,200 for unpaid wages.

Antonio Brown Cut by Patriots

On September 20, the Patriots released Antonio Brown after his second accuser from the Sports Illustrated report revealed that Brown sent her menacing text messages after the news broke. All in all, Brown ended up playing one game with the Patriots before getting cut. He was also dropped by Nike before his release from the Patriots. "The New England Patriots are releasing Antonio Brown. We appreciate the hard work of many people over the past 11 days, but we feel that it is best to move in a different direction at this time," the team said in a press release.

It's currently unclear what sort of punishment Brown is facing from the NFL, but they are investigating the allegations.