Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo is arguably the most famous athlete on the planet. This is why one woman accusing him of rape is generating more global news coverage than 10 (or more) accusing Bill Cosby or Harvey Weinstein of the same ever did.
Kathryn Mayorga says the Portuguese footballer, who plays for Italian club Juventus, raped her [at a Las Vegas hotel in 2009] while she repeatedly screamed no. …
After the attack, according to the lawsuit [filed in Nevada on Friday], Ronaldo apologized, ‘stating he was sorry, he was usually a gentleman.’ She claims she received $375,000 in exchange for her silence.
(BBC, October 2, 2018)
Mind you, video from the night in question shows Mayorga dirty dancing with Ronaldo and gazing longingly at him. More to the point, they appeared to be nibbling each other like appetizers before she accepted his invitation to go to his penthouse suite, presumably for the main course. This is why, if nothing else, her lawsuit reinforces the absolute prerogative to say no, especially if your dream of flirting with a celebrity crush is suddenly turning into a nightmare of being sodomized … anally.
In any event, Mayorga is just the latest woman whose MeToo awakening emboldened her to hold her seemingly untouchable rapist to account. But she’s not looking to have him prosecuted. Instead, she’s just looking to void her gag order and get more money from Ronaldo – who is probably ten times richer today than he was in 2009.
Of course, as Cosby found out, settling a rape allegation civilly does not immunize one against being charged criminally … even decades later. And, sure enough, Las Vegas SVU is already investigating.
The Las Vegas Police Department announced it has reopened a sexual assault case from June 13, 2009 involving a woman named Kathryn Mayorga, who alleged in a lawsuit reportedly filed on Friday that soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo attacked her in a Las Vegas hotel room the same day.
(Sports Illustrated, October 1, 2018)
This does not bode well for him. And it does not help that Ronaldo seems to think he can pull a Donald Trump by dismissing Mayorga’s allegation as “fake news”. Come to think of it, he seems possessed of the same kind of predatory predilection that makes Trump feel entitled to grab women by the pussy. But nothing betrays his bad judgment quite like Ronaldo buying an $18 million unit in Trump Tower in 2015 (birds of a feather…?).
Meanwhile, other “victims” are bound to come out of the woodwork. Never mind that #TheyToo will probably be interested only in extorting him for cash to keep his dirty little secrets.
But Ronaldo is already paying dearly for this alleged rape, and it extends far beyond the hit his reformed family-man image is taking.
Cristiano Ronaldo was left off Portugal’s national team squad for a pair of upcoming matches, the decision coming Thursday as the soccer great fights rape allegations in the United States.
(TIME, October 4, 2018)
And it’s only a matter of time before this allegation begins to hit where it really hurts:
Cristiano Ronaldo faced growing heat Thursday from sponsors over a rape allegation in the United States after Nike and video game maker EA Sports expressed concern about the conduct of the soccer superstar. …
In June, Forbes, which has a long record of quantifying the earnings of the world’s richest people, estimated that Ronaldo made an annual $108 million, with salary and winnings netting the player $61 million and endorsements a further $47 million.
(The Chicago Tribune, October 4, 2018)
Nike’s concern is particularly noteworthy. After all, this is the same Nike that stood by Kobe Bryant when he faced a similar allegation in 2003 and Tiger Woods when he faced that infamous sex scandal in 2009, the same fateful year of Ronaldo’s alleged rape.
Given that kind of support, Ronaldo can be forgiven for thinking he would have to be tried, convicted, and sentenced to life for Nike to drop him, especially given this:
Cristiano Ronaldo has agreed to a new lifetime contract with sports giant Nike that will earn him an astonishing $1.25 billion.
(The New York Post, November 9, 2016)
¡Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool!
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