Mark Cuban was accused of sexual assault by a woman at a nightclub in 2011, and the allegation has now come to light in the wake of Sports Illustrated’s bombshell report about the Dallas Mavericks harboring a hostile work environment.
Nigel Jaquiss of of the Portland, Ore., publication Williamette Week obtained a 50-page police report from an incident in May 2011 in which a woman claimed Cuban sexually assaulted her while she was posing for a photo with the Mavs owner at a Portland nightclub called the Barrel Room. More specifically, the alleged victim said Cuban “pushed his hand down the back of her jeans and inside her underwear where he cupped his hand over her groin area and inserted the tip of his finger into her vagina.”
The woman, who is now in her 30s and married, briefly spoke with Williamette Week about the incident. While the case was never pursued after prosecutors determined there was insufficient evidence, she insists every word she told police was the truth.
“I filed the report because what he did was wrong,” she said. “I stand behind that report 1,000 percent.”
Cuban has vehemently denied that any such incident took place. His attorney, Stephen Houze, told WW that the accusations are “false” and that the case was thoroughly investigated. Cuban actually chose to speak at length with Portland Police Detective Brendan McGuire, who filed the report, rather than consulting an attorney first. The entire conversation is worth reading, but Cuban was adamant he was innocent and expressed concern over how he would ever prove it.
Houze ordered a polygraph test conducted by former Miami Police Detective Sgt. Warren Holmes days after Cuban spoke with McGuire, and the results supported Cuban’s denial. For what it’s worth, the alleged victim claimed Cuban seemed heavily intoxicated at the time of the incident.
“It was apparent he was very drunk,” the woman’s friend later told police. “His eyes were half closed, he was unstable on his feet, and he was slurring his words.”
It appears Cuban has avoided any potential legal trouble from the 2011 allegation, but the timing of the accusations coming to light is going to look bad given what has been said about the Mavs organization and Cuban’s lack of accountability.
