Trevor Bauer is suing The Athletic and its former author Molly Knight for defamation.
The Dodgers pitcher linked to the suit on his Twitter page on Tuesday.
In February, the Los Angeles Attorney’s Office announced it would not be investigating allegations of sexual assault that the former Cy Young winner faced last year. Earlier, a California Superior Court judge denied the accuser’s request for an injunction.
Bauer was accused of beating and choking a woman unconscious during sex. The pitcher admitted to having rough sex with the accuser but said it was consensual. During the case, Bauer’s attorney alleged that the pitcher had text messages from the accuser “requesting to be ‘choked’ and slapped in the face” and that “the woman passed the night and left without incident and continued Mr. Bauer.” with friendly and flirtatious banter.”
In the lawsuit against Knight and The Athletic, Bauer’s attorneys allege that Knight and The Athletic “defamed Mr. Bauer by creating and disseminating the false narrative that Mr. Bauer fractured the complainant’s skull.”
Bauer’s attorneys at Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump Holley LLP and Zuckerman Spaeder LLP filed the lawsuit Tuesday in the United States District Court Central District of California Western Division.
Trevor Bauer is suing Molly Knight and The Athletic for defamation. Getty Images
“There was no basis for that allegation because the applicant’s own medical records – held by The Athletic – showed that she did not have such a hernia,” the lawsuit continues. “Nevertheless, consistent with their past and subsequent animosities towards Mr. Bauer, The Athletic and Ms. Knight published this bogus attack, which was picked up and relayed to a larger audience by other media outlets and social media sites.”
The lawsuit also cited tweets from Knight describing the accuser’s skull as “cracked” or “broken.”
“The defendants acted with real malice because they willfully ignored the truth – as evidenced by medical records held by The Athletic – and because the defendants’ defamatory statements were part of a campaign to harass Mr Bauer, as proved, among other things, her past and subsequent false and misleading statements about his behavior and character, her efforts to dissuade Major League Baseball teams from signing him, and her strong complaints about the Los Angeles Dodgers’ decision to add him to their team.”
Molly Knight at Dodger Stadium in 2020.Molly Knight / Instagram
This is Bauer’s second lawsuit for defamation in this case. He also sued the website Deadspin.
“We are aware of the legal action taken by Trevor Bauer,” a spokesman for The Athletic told The Post. “We are confident in our reporting and plan to defend ourselves against the lawsuit.”
Knight declined to comment on this story.
Earlier this month, MLB extended Bauer’s paid administrative leave, which he has been on since June 29, until April 16 as the league conducts an investigation into the allegations.