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Instead, McCathern said, Prescott has reported the alleged actions of the woman and her attorneys to authorities, whose investigation of the matter will receive his full cooperation.
“Dak and his lawyers are trying to be bullies, play hardball and blame the victims,” Bethel Zehaie said Monday night in a statement emailed to the Washington Post. “We are not afraid of the truth.”
The lawsuit lists as causes of action: defamation and slander; extortion/civil duress; business contempt; unlawful interference with current and/or future business relationships; civil conspiracy; and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
“Mr. Prescott, a new father of a baby girl, has great empathy for survivors of sexual assault,” McCathern said in a statement. “He fervently believes that all perpetrators of such crimes should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.” law. To be clear, Mr. Prescott has never engaged in any non-consensual sexual conduct with anyone. Lies hurt. Especially malicious lies. We will not allow the defendant and her legal team to profit from this attempt to extort millions from Mr. Prescott ”.
“Dak is a liar and a rapist,” Bethel Zehaie said in her statement, after being asked for comment on the lawsuit.
At stake is an alleged encounter between Prescott and the woman in February 2017, several weeks after he completed a remarkably effective rookie season for the Cowboys in place of the injured Tony Romo.
The lawsuit attached a January 2024 letter sent by Bethel Zehaie and Yoel Zehaie to Prescott and addressed to the athletic department at Mississippi State, where the quarterback went to college. The letter said the woman had gotten into a vehicle with Prescott and two members of her “entourage.” Prescott allegedly exposed himself to the woman, who “made sure” to verbally express her lack of interest in sexual relations. At that point, other people in the vehicle were said to have left so Prescott could be alone with her, and he was charged with using physical force to commit sexual assault, including vaginal penetration.
His client “has had to live with this pain and trauma for 7 years,” the letter reads, as shown in Prescott’s legal filing. She “It affected her relationship with her fiancé and her daily existence so much that she had to attend therapy and counseling and she will need therapy and counseling in the future. She has suffered unimaginable mental anguish in dealing with the trauma of being a victim of sexual assault (sic).
“Despite the tragic events,” the letter continues, “she is willing to forgo pursuing criminal charges, as well as releasing this information to the public, in exchange for compensating her for the mental anguish she has suffered. The damages (of the woman) are valued at the sum of $100,000,000.00.”
The attorneys, based in Arlington, Texas, added in the letter that Prescott had until February 16 to respond and that they looked forward to “resolving this matter privately and amicably.”
Highlighting in bold that it has been “seven years since the alleged assault,” Prescott’s attorneys said in their filing that the woman’s actions since then “are consistent with her being involved solely in consensual actions” with the quarterback. They added: “The fact that Mr. Prescott heard nothing negative about this alleged interaction nearly a decade ago is truly telling of the defendants’ motives.”
After receiving the letter from Bethel Zehaie and Yoel Zehaie, McCathern said in the lawsuit that he and his team approached them. The woman’s lawyers were said to have “confirmed in a phone call that (1) all causes of civil action have expired, and (2) the only reason they demanded $100 million from Mr. Prescott was to waive charges.” criminals and for not making public the alleged ‘aggression’.”
In its response Monday, Bethel Zehaie wrote: “In our initial conversations with his attorney Levi, (Prescott) adamantly denied knowing our client. In our next conversation about a week later, he not only confirmed that he knew her, but also confirmed that he was with her the same night she was sexually assaulted. Not once before this lawsuit was filed did he deny this incident. We maintain the truth.”
“This young woman was crying in my office,” he added of his client. “Dak must be held accountable for her behavior.”
McCathern said in her statement that Prescott’s accuser’s “false claims” “undermine the courage of sexual assault survivors everywhere, as well as the legitimacy of the horrific traumas they have endured.”
The lawsuit seeks monetary damages of more than $1 million, including damages and other potential penalties.
McCathern said Prescott, who is entering the final year of a $160 million contract with the Cowboys, would donate any money raised in his legal action to a charitable foundation created by “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” star Mariska Hargitay, which focuses on addressing sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse.