There is some confusion over the amount of passengers who were in the Uber that has led to a sexual assault accusation made against Jameis Winston.
The NFL reportedly is investigating an allegation of sexual assault made by the driver of an Uber against Jameis Winston in Scottsdale, Ariz. in March, 2016. The woman accuses the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback of grabbing her crotch without permission.
Winston responded with a statement in which he said the allegations were false. One of his arguments is that the driver is mistaken about the number of passengers in the car, who was sitting next to her, and who may have groped her. In her allegation, the woman said Winston was the only passenger.
Winston’s reps believe a voicemail from an Uber rep named “Chris” who called about the incident and indicated there may have been multiple passengers aids their case.
The article from @BuzzFeed alleges Jameis Winston was the only passenger in the car. Winston and his reps say no. I listened to the original voicemail from “Chris” from Uber stating “you or someone else in your vehicle" engaged in inappropriate behavior.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 17, 2017
The voicemail to #Bucs QB Jameis Winston from a person IDing himself as Chris from the Uber office — which I have listened to — is one reason Winston’s reps show multiple people were in the car. There is no known video of the incident
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 17, 2017
It’s unclear if the Uber representative who left the message used that particular choice of words because he knew there were multiple passengers, or if that’s standard language used in all calls they make. Only one account holder orders an Uber, regardless of how many passengers there will be. So a representative might just use that language in a phone call because they are uncertain over the number of passengers.
Absent more information surrounding the voicemail, the message alone does not prove Winston is telling the truth about there being multiple passengers. So it still comes down to both sides are saying something different about how many passengers there were.
