Mark Cuban denies 2011 sexual assault allegation as disturbing new details emerge
- A newspaper in Oregon has published details of a case in which a woman accused Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban of sexual assault.
- According to the report, the woman accused Cuban of penetrating her while they took a picture in a Portland nightclub.
- No charges were filed, but one detective described a photo of the incident as "significant."
- In a phone conversation with one of the detectives, Cuban denied the allegation but reportedly told the detective, "F--- me! I'm so f---ed."
- The report came two weeks after a Sports Illustrated account that portrayed a hostile work environment for women in Mavericks front office.
A new report contains details of a sexual assault allegation made against Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in 2011. Cuban denies the allegation.
The Willamette Week in Portland, Oregon, obtained police reports in which a woman accused Cuban of reaching inside her pants and penetrating her vagina as they posed for a picture in a Portland nightclub.
When Cuban was contacted by the Associated Press by email, he wrote, "It didn't happen." No charges were ever filed in the case.
According to the police report obtained by the Week, the woman and her friend told the police that the woman initially declined a request from her boyfriend to pose for a photo with Cuban. They said she later encountered him as they were preparing to leave the club at 2 a.m.
"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."
The alleged victim asked Cuban to pose for a picture.
She told police that Cuban initially placed his right hand on her lower back.
"He then moved his hand down until it was on her buttocks," according to McGuire's summary of the alleged victim's statement. "Cuban then 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 also provided photos to the police and to the publication.
According to the Week, one of the detectives described one of the photos as "significant" in the report.
"In both images, Cuban's right shoulder is lowered and he appears to be stretching to reach his arm down," McGuire's report says. "In one of the pictures, his arm can be seen behind [the alleged victim] and it appears Cuban is reaching down toward her buttocks."
McGuire also noted the alleged victim's expression: "Her teeth are clenched, eyes wider than the other pictures and brow raised showing a look of surprise and strain."
According to the Week's review of the reports, prosecutors wrote "there is no evidence to corroborate the complainant's statement and there is evidence contradicting the claim." The report also noted that the woman later chose not to proceed with the allegation.
The woman spoke with the Week recently and told the paper that she "never contacted the media or sought publicity or compensation from Cuban and has put the incident behind her."
"I filed the report because what he did was wrong," she told the Week. "I stand behind that report 1,000 percent."
The Week also provided a transcript of the initial phone conversation between Cuban and a detective. Here is an excerpt of that transcript, in which Cuban denied the allegations but said, "F--- me! I'm so f---ed":
Cuban: I mean, wouldn't she have said something to somebody?
McGuire: Well, according to her, she did. According to her, she immediately told her friends she was with, her boyfriend, and then basically that started a whole several-day argument as to what they should do about it. Before they actually decided to talk to us.
Cuban: There's just no way. There's just no way. Just no way. If she told five friends right there and then, then that's what they're gonna tell the judge and I'm gonna be f---ed. Oh my God. [sighs] I don't know what to do.
McGuire: Well, unfortunately, I can't help you with that.
Cuban: F--- me! I'm so f---ed.
McGuire: My plan is to be getting back in touch with you within a week. So probably early next week. And at any point, you have my number and my email. You can…
Cuban: Sure.
McGuire: …get in touch with me.
Cuban: I'm just f---ed.
McGuire: So, and then at that point, if you are interested in sitting down and chatting, we can arrange…
Cuban: I'm happy to do whatever it takes. I just, how can I prove a negative?
McGuire: Right. Right. So OK, well, thank you for your time, Mr. Cuban.
Cuban: I appreciate it.
This report came two weeks after a Sports Illustrated report described the Mavericks' front office as a "hostile work environment" for women. Cuban was not accused of any misconduct in the SI report, but the report prompted questions of what he knew or should have known as the head of the organization. Cuban fired two employees over the allegations in the report.