Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer threw a fastball at The Athletic and one of its former reporters, and filed a defamation lawsuit over their claims that he “broke the skull” of a woman who accused him of hitting and choking her during sex.
Bauer, 31, is suing Molly Knight and the website for defamation “by creating and disseminating the false narrative that Mr. Bauer fractured the plaintiff’s skull,” according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday. Knight is also said to have stated that the victim’s skull was “cracked”.
“There was no basis for this allegation as the plaintiff’s own medical records – owned by The Athletic – showed that she did not have such a hernia,” the lawsuit states.
“Nevertheless, consistent with their previous and subsequent expressions of hostility toward Mr. Bauer, The Athletic and Ms. Knight published this bogus attack, which was picked up by other media and social media sites and disseminated to a wider audience.”
Bauer said in the lawsuit that “the defendants acted with actual malice in willfully ignoring the truth — which is evident from medical records held by The Athletic.”
“The defendants’ defamatory statements were part of a campaign to harass Mr. Bauer, including their past and subsequent false and misleading statements about his conduct and character, and their efforts to dissuade Major League Baseball teams from signing him , and her strident complaints about the Los Angeles Dodgers’ decision to add him to their team.
The Athletic, which was bought by The New York Times for $550 million in January, told the New York Post it was “aware” of Bauer’s lawsuit and “trusts our reporting and plans to fight the lawsuit.” defend”.
This is Bauer’s second lawsuit for defamation in this case. He also sued the website Deadspin.
Knight, who also wrote the New York Times bestseller The Best Team Money Can Buy: The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Wild Struggle to Build a Baseball Powerhouse, had no comment, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Trevor Bauer, 31, is suing former Athletic reporter Molly Knight for defamation “by creating and disseminating the false narrative that Mr. Bauer fractured the plaintiff’s skull,” according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday. She also reportedly testified that the victim’s skull “cracked.”
Bauer said in the lawsuit that Knight (pictured) “acted with actual malice because [she and the Athletic] intentionally ignoring the truth – which emerges from medical records held by The Athletic,” the lawsuit states
Knight pictured at a Dodger game in 2020
The former Cy Young award winner was accused last July of choking a woman unconscious, repeatedly hitting her and having anal sex in two sexual encounters without her consent. He firmly denied the allegations made by the woman, identified only as Ms. Hill.
Last month, the Los Angeles County Attorney’s Office issued a statement stating, “After a thorough review of all available evidence, including civil restraining order proceedings, witness testimony and physical evidence, the people are unable to to prove the relevant charges beyond a reasonable doubt.’
TMZ reported that Bauer is not being charged, in part because of text messages the woman sent to Bauer stating that she wanted to have rough sex with him.
Bauer’s lawyers have claimed he was led to believe she was enjoying their first sexual encounter based on text messages she sent him: “Gag me… never been so aroused in my life… Give me all the pain.”
Bauer, who is in the second year of a three-year, $102 million contract with the Dodgers, has not spoken up for the team after the allegations surfaced in the second half of last season. However, he hasn’t lost any of his salary because players are paid during the administrative leave.
Bauer’s accuser, identified by her attorneys as “Ms. Hill,” claimed in her filing that she agreed to have sex with Bauer on two occasions, but said he went overboard by hitting her and choking her unconscious
A text exchange shows Hill Bauer saying her socks needed to be removed when it was time to “choke me” and begged him to inflict “all the pain” on her. Hill told the LA County Court in August that she didn’t mean what she said and Bauer just said what “he wanted to hear.”
The conversation turned increasingly sexual as Bauer asked her to describe what she wanted
Bauer insisted in a video posted to Instagram on Feb. 9 that the encounter was consensual.
“I respected the Pasadena Police Department when they conducted their investigation,” he said.
“Because I believe that serious allegations like these should be fully investigated and not judged in the media.”
He added that the investigation was “extremely thorough,” noting, “Both the Pasadena police and prosecutors have access to much more information than has been released at this time.”
Bauer said he and the woman “had rough sex.”
He explained: “That’s something that addressed her.
“We discussed it together and both agreed to go into it. We set rules and boundaries and I followed them.
“In both cases, when we set boundaries, she agreed beforehand. She also repeatedly agreed during sex when I asked her multiple times if she was having fun and would like to move on.
“And indeed, she continued to tell me in no uncertain terms what she wanted.”
He said that both times she willingly stayed at his house after they were done and never showed any signs of stress.
In a text exchange, Hill told her cousin that her face “crapped” and asked the cousin not to say anything about the injuries
The woman who accused the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Trevor Bauer of sexual assault described their encounters as “consensual” but said he “went too far” in leaving her with blue eyes, according to his attorneys at the Text messages published Aug
Her lawyers circulated a photo of her bruised and battered face, but Bauer insisted she didn’t leave his home damaged.
“When she left, she certainly didn’t look like the photos that were later attached to a family court statement and distributed to the media by her attorneys,” he said.
Bauer categorically denied hitting her face or vagina or scratching her face and denied having had anal sex.
“The disturbing actions and behavior that she described simply did not occur,” he said.
Bauer continued, “It’s clear that I’ve made some bad decisions, particularly in relation to the people I’ve connected with.
“But I’m not who this woman, her lawyers and the media made me out to be.”
He said it was “extremely alarming to see how quickly and willfully and knowingly certain members of the media decided to condemn me.”
He finished by thanking his teammates, coaches and fans for their support and saying he was relieved he wasn’t facing criminal charges.