(Jan. 30, 2019 – Source: Getty Images North America)
*Michael Irvin’s legal team refiled his $100 million dollar defamation lawsuit against Marriott after the hotel released video of his encounter with the woman who claims he made unwanted sexual comments to her.
The former NFLer is moving forward with his legal battle against the hotel and four employees — moving the case from Texas to Arizona.
As we previously reported, a woman claims she had a disturbing encounter with Irvin in the lobby of the hotel days before Super Bowl LVII. The allegations prompted the NFL Network to drop him from hosting coverage of the big game.
Irvin has said he is “a bit baffled” by the woman’s claims as he does not know what he did or said wrong.
READ MORE: Federal Judge Orders Marriott to Turn Over Footage in Michael Irvin Case
A federal judge ordered the Phoenix Marriott in Arizona to turn over any video that shows the misconduct between NFL icon and his accuser. Now that the footage has been released, Irvin and his legal team are confident that they have a strong case.
“Here’s the truth. We used to say when we played football ‘the eye in the sky don’t tell no lie’, it’s just the truth,” Irvin said Tuesday. “We talk and tell lies, but the eye in the sky don’t tell no lie.”
The video does not have any audio but shows Irvin talking to a Marriott employee who said he made sexually inappropriate comments. Irvin is also seen touching a woman’s arm multiple times, Fox 4 reports.
In a court filing last Friday, Marriott said Irvin “appeared to be visibly intoxicated,” during a conversation with the female staffer, and asked a lewd question about intercourse with a Black man.
Marriott said “After Irvin finished leering at the Victim and turned back to Employee 1, he said aloud ‘she bad,’ ‘she bad…’” followed by a sexual remark.
He then “slapped himself in the face three times, saying ‘keep it together Mike.’”
The video shows Irvin slapping himself. Watch the footage via the YouTube clip above.
Irvin denies the hotel’s version of what happened. His defamation lawsuit accuses Marriott of wrongful interference in a business relationship, according to multiple reports.
