Retired NBA star Ray Allen has asked a Florida court to throw out a case where he stands accused of stalking somebody he met online. His defense? He was catfished.
Allen reportedly filed an emergency motion in Orange County, Florida, on Tuesday to contest the charges—just one day after a civilian named Bryant Coleman told the court that he is being stalked by the two-time NBA champion. Allen claims it’s actually Coleman who was doing the stalking.
“Coleman pretended to be a number of attractive women interested in Ray Allen,” said the motion filed on Allen’s behalf. “Ray believed he was speaking with these women and communicated with them.”
https://twitter.com/Smashed/status/933027957303586816
When you realize why Ray Allen is trending… and it definitely ain't about basketball pic.twitter.com/v3sHYxFzJL
— LaurenNYknicks 🐾🦋🏀😈 (@AaliyahNevaeh7) November 21, 2017
In a statement, attorney David Oscar Markus said Allen took legal action as “an effort to put an end to threats against him and his family” (Allen is married with children). He also asserted that Allen was the victim “of an online scheme to extract money and embarrass him by someone who appears to be troubled.”
Earlier this year, comedian Kevin Hart opted to speak publicly about his infidelities instead of paying the exorbitant price his extorter was asking for. With this new emergency motion, it appears Allen may now be in the same boat.
In the filing, Allen said Coleman threatened to reveal the nature of their conversations and that the two parties eventually made a deal to keep the details private. Allen said that deal has been violated, though, and that Coleman has “continued to harass him and his family through several social media accounts,” the New York Post reported.
“He posted about Ray’s wife, Ray’s children, Ray’s dog, Ray’s homes, Ray’s wife’s restaurant, and numerous other personal items,” the motion said. “Coleman not only posted about these things, he would actually post while physically located inside Ray’s wife’s restaurant in Orlando. And he would make sure they knew it, tagging Ray and his wife on those posts.”
Allen asked the court to prevent Coleman from “cyber-stalking.”
This isn’t the 10-time All-Star’s first time making the news for an online mishap. Back in 2009, he accidentally tweeted a sext that had apparently been intended as a DM.