Former Dallas Cowboys star Michael Irvin showed reporters the hotel surveillance video at the center of of his $100m lawsuit against Marriott on Tuesday.
The video, which Marriott has fought to prevent from being seen by the public, shows the encounter that led to Irvin being pulled from his job at NFL Network during the week before Super Bowl LVII, due to allegations he directed “harassing and inappropriate comments” at a female employee in the lobby of the Marriott-owned Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel.
The 56-year-old Irvin, whose legal team has claimed the video will exonerate him, played the footage for a gathering of media at a news conference, shortly after it was reported the former NFL star was dropping the lawsuit against Marriott, initially filed in Texas, in order to refile it in Arizona.
“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, according to KDFW Fox 4. “We talk and tell lies, but the eye in the sky don’t tell no lie.”
NEW VIDEO: Lawyers for Michael Irvin show the surveillance video from the hotel where an employee mad a sexual assault allegation against Irvin. The length of the conversation was for nearly 2 minutes. Irvin says he talked to the woman about the sports shows he’s on. @FOX4 pic.twitter.com/1IRvzB0UmP
— Steven Dial (@StevenDialFox4) March 14, 2023
In the video, Irvin can be seen walking up to the employee and shaking her hand, then touching her arm twice. Shortly after, the employee is shown taking a couple steps back from him, followed by the pair shaking hands and Irvin looking in her direction as she walks away. The footage contains no audio of the conversation between the two.
The Hall of Fame wide receiver and his attorney, Levi McCathern, have denied all wrongdoing and alleged in his lawsuit that Marriott tried to “cancel” Irvin. He is seeking damages for defamation and wrongfully interfering with a business relationship.
The refiled lawsuit in Arizona features six defendants: Marriott International, the Renaissance Hotel Operating Company, his accuser and three other hotel employees.
In a court filing last Friday, Marriott provided its own description of the encounter, first criticizing Irvin’s 8 March press conference in which he proclaimed his innocence and added that it took him “back to a time where a white woman would accuse a Black man of something, and they would take a bunch of guys that were above the law, run in a barn, put a rope around his foot and drag him through the mud and hang him by a tree”.
Marriott said in the filing, “Irvin’s counsel provided a self-serving, inaccurate summary of the video footage Marriott produced, including his claim that the footage proves Irvin did nothing wrong and then turned the microphone over to Irvin to make racially charged statements.”
On the night in question, Marriott claims Irvin “appeared to be visibly intoxicated”. Marriott also alleges Irvin began his aggressive behavior toward the employee, shaking her hand, stating she was attractive, and asking her if she watched football.
“Irvin also reached out and touched the Victim’s arm during this conversation without her consent, causing her to step back, becoming visibly uncomfortable,” the filing states. “Irvin then asked the Victim whether she knew anything about having a “big Black man inside of (her).
“Irvin then attempted to grab the Victim’s hand again and said he was ‘sorry if he brought up bad memories’ for her. The Victim pulled her hand away and tried to back away from Irvin as he continued to move towards her.”
According to the lawsuit, two hotel employees noticed their co-worker was uncomfortable when she returned to work after the encounter with Irvin.
The next day, the accuser reported the incident to her manager, who told her to take the complaint to Loss Prevention. She was then interviewed by NFL investigators. Irvin left the hotel later that night.
“I don’t speak like that. I’ve never spoken like that,” Irvin said on Tuesday. “I totally deny saying that.”
