NFL star Antonio Brown has been accused of rape by his former personal trainer, Britney Taylor.
Britney Taylor, who decided to forgo her right to anonymity, said Antonio Brown assaulted her on three occasions, according to a civil lawsuit she filed.
Antonio Brown has denied the allegations.
His new team, the New England Patriots, said that the NFL was also launching an investigation.
The complaint says that the two met at a bible study class in 2010.
Antonio Brown later hired Britney Taylor, who is a gymnast, in 2017, to improve his flexibility.
However, according to the lawsuit, the NFL player assaulted her twice in training sessions in June 2017, and she stopped working with him.
The lawsuit reads that Antonio Brown “reached out to Ms Taylor, expressing contrition, begging forgiveness and pleading with her to train him again”.
It says she reluctantly agreed but in May 2018 he raped her.
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Antonio Brown’s lawyer, Darren Heitner, said in a statement: “Mr. Brown denies each and every allegation in the lawsuit.
“He will pursue all legal remedies to not only clear his name but to also protect other professional athletes against false accusations.”
He added that “any interaction… was entirely consensual”.
Antonio Brown has been in the press this week after publicly demanding on Twitter that the Oakland Raiders release him and later receiving a reported $9 million signing bonus for the New England Patriots.
The Patriots are playing the Miami Dolphins on September 15 and it is not clear if he will be on the team.
Antonio Brown’s team said in a statement, in response to the lawsuit: “We take these allegations very seriously.
“Under no circumstances does this organization condone… violence or assault… We will have no further comment while that investigation takes place.”
