A woman has recanted her claims about being physically assaulted by Jovon Robinson after her claims played a big role in Robinson being kicked off Auburn’s football team.
Robinson, who was projected as the Tigers’ starting running back, was dismissed by Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn in early August. A claim from a woman that she was assaulted by Robinson for a second time, along with smaller infractions like being at a party where another player got injured and being late to class and meetings contributed to Robinson’s dismissal. But the woman who had accused Robinson of smashing her head into a door while kicking her out of his home took back the claims, according to AL.com.
Here’s what the woman initially claimed:
“After about (five) minutes, without being provoked in any way, he frantically gets up and shoves me out the door, not giving me a chance to gather my things before doing so (phone and keys),” the accuser wrote to Malzahn. “In the process to physically throw me out, Jovon managed to smash my head in the door and skin both of my knees on the hallway carpet. I now have two bloody knees, a bruised shoulder, and a knot above my eye.”
The woman reported the incident to Auburn’s Malzahn and also talked with the program’s Title IX advisor. But she never reported the incident to police. She also said in her email to Malzahn that Robinson had been physical with her multiple times.
“With this being the second or third time an incident of this sort has happened with him, I believe that it is time he be held responsible for the way he has been acting toward not just me, but women in general.”
After Robinson was kicked off the team, the woman reached out to AL.com and said “it was all made up. Nothing happened.”
Robinson denied having any physical altercation with the woman. Robinson rushed for 639 yards and three touchdowns last season. Several years ago Robinson’s academic status was under review after a counselor admitted to falsifying his transcripts.
