In a group chat that included his lawyer, and at least one close confidant, Antonio Brown sent threatening text messages to the artist who accused him of exposing his barely covered penis to her while she worked on a mural in his home, according to Sports Illustrated’s Robert Klemko. Brown’s messages included insults about the artist’s income, photos of her young children, and requests made to someone named “Eric B” to “look up her background history see how broke this girl is.”
The texts came on Wednesday evening, two days after SI published a story that included the artist’s account of what she said happened. The artist’s lawyer responded by sending a letter to the NFL. According to Klemko’s report, the league has arranged for phone call between the artist’s attorneys and NFL investigators. In the letter, lawyer Lisa J. Banks said her client was “understandably frightened” about the messages that “clearly intended to threaten and intimidate her.” Banks added that her client was not looking for financial compensation.
“This sort of intimidation and harassment is the reason victims are often so reluctant to step forward in these cases,” Banks told Sports Illustrated. “We have confidence the NFL and the Patriots will step in and end this behavior.”
While the phone number that sent the messages was consistent with the one the wideout used to talk to the artist back in 2017, SI still tried to confirm to who the phone number belonged and got the following response:
Asked via text to confirm or deny the details of the woman’s charge of intimidation, the respondent at the number purported to be Brown’s replied “foh clown.” (“FOH” is a popular acronym for the phrase “get the f—- out of here.”)
Neither the Patriots nor Brown’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, commented to SI. Brown’s lawyer, Darren Heitner, told the publication that he advised the receiver not to communicate with his accuser, but otherwise also did not respond for comment.