Sports Illustrated story reveals new allegation of sexual misconduct by Patriots' Antonio Brown

On Sunday, receiver Antonio Brown made his debut with the New England Patriots, finishing with four catches for 56 yards and a touchdown.

After the game, a 43-0 Patriots road win against the Miami Dolphins, Brown was nowhere to be found, with the team’s public relations members telling media he’d “already left” by the time the locker room opened. By NFL rule, all players are supposed to be available to media after games.

But no other players that we know of are currently being sued for three incidents of sexual assault, including forcible rape, against a former trainer.

And on Monday, a story by Sports Illustrated revealed a new accusation of sexual misconduct by Brown and also offered details of multiple incidents of the receiver stiffing part-time employees on payment and being flat-out disrespectful in the process.

Artist: Brown approached her naked, bailed on auction payment

SI reporter Robert Klemko has a nearly 5,000-word story that posted on Monday; Klemko writes that he spoke with more than two dozen individuals, “people who have employed, worked for, coached, or played alongside Brown — some who have taken legal action against him, and others who have not — and reviewed police and court documents from jurisdictions ranging from Miami to Pittsburgh to Oakland” for the story.

The overall picture is one of a man who has little, if any, respect for those he asks to do work for him, is rarely held accountable and believes social media posts are the same as money.

A new Sports Illustrated story details the many ways in which Antonio Brown mistreats those who enter his orbit. (AP)

The most damning allegation is one made by an artist whom Brown hired in 2017.

The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, had painted a portrait of Brown that was sold at an auction tied to a charity softball game in Pittsburgh that Brown had agree to host in June 2017; the game and auction benefitted the National Youth Foundation.

Brown noticed both the portrait and the artist, who was in her late 20s; one of the co-founders of the National Youth Organization, Sophia Hanson, said he topped the would-be winning bid of $450 with an offer of $700 to buy it for himself.

He told Hanson he’d pay for the artwork at a later date, and she took him at his word.

He also invited the artist to come to his 8,800-square foot home in the suburbs north of Pittsburgh to create another painting of him, this time a mural. He agreed to a daily fee of $1,000 for her work and sent a van to transport her and some of his friends and associates from New York City to the Pittsburgh area.

The woman, who spoke about the alleged incident for the first time after being contacted by Sports Illustrated, said Brown began flirting with her but at first she thought nothing of it, as that type of behavior was something she dealt with often.

When Brown posted a live video of her progress on social media, the artist was thrilled.

“It was very exciting, to have this person interested in my work,” she said. “He acted like he trusted me and he let me do my thing.”

But on just her second day, things got more than uncomfortable.

The woman said at one point she was in a kneeling position while painting and turned to find Brown standing behind her. He was naked save for a small towel he was holding over his genitals.

“He was flirty with me but I paid him no mind because I was there on business, plus, I had already seen him with multiple girls in the short time I was with him,” the woman said. “I was about 40 percent done on the second day, and I’m on my knees painting the bottom [of the mural], and he walks up to me butt-ass naked, with a hand cloth covering his [penis] and starts having a conversation with me.
“Unfortunately, I’ve been tried [by men] a lot of times, so I just kept my cool and kept painting. After that, it all ended abruptly.”

The next day, Brown told her he was headed to his native Miami. She still believed she would finish the mural when he returned, but weeks passed with no contact from him, and his various assistants stopped responding to her text messages as well.

Brown did pay her $2,000 for two days of work. She is not pursuing charges or renumeration, but was bothered by his behavior. She told SI that friends whom she’d told about the incident with Brown contacted her last week after news of the lawsuit that had been filed against him.

Darren Heitner, a Brown attorney, tweeted on Monday after the SI story posted that Brown reviewed the allegations and “denies he ever engaged in such activities.”

Brown also hasn’t paid National Youth Foundation the $700 he pledged for the original portrait he bought at the charity auction despite messages and emails sent to Brown and agent Drew Rosenhaus.

Farting and empty promises

Other alleged incidents involving Brown are disrespectful.

Dr. Victor Prisk, who runs Prisk Orthopaedics and Wellness (POW) in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, said Brown’s reputation preceded him, but he took a meeting with Brown in August 2018 despite what he’d heard about the then-Steelers player.

As Prisk was measuring Brown’s body fat, Brown audibly passed gas several times. Someone with Brown was recording the appointment — which Prisk says Brown was three hours late for — and he looks at the camera and smiles as he’s passing gas; the video, not surprisingly, made its way to TMZ.

“It just seemed childish to me,” Prisk told Sports Illustrated. “I’m a doctor and this man is farting in my face.”

But Prisk agreed to take Brown on as a client, creating diets and a supplement program and acting as his on-call “wellness coach.” The two verbally agreed that Prisk would be paid $500 an hour, but whenever Prisk bought up payment, Brown seemed reluctant.

Instead, he’d make proclamations about he and Prisk becoming business partners.

“In his very first meeting with me he said, ‘I want to get you on salary, I want you on my team,’” Prisk said. “Then he’s like, ‘We need to build this downtown. POW 2!’ I’m like, O.K., that’s cool. Found a building, had somebody put together a sales agreement for the building. Don’t hear anything back. Then he says, ‘I’m going to connect you with a treadmill company I work with. We’re gonna get you a couple treadmills for your gym.’ AB stops talking to that guy and then I’m told they’re not giving me a treadmill.”

Prisk’s story has become a familiar pattern.

“He tells you he’s going to make it totally worth your while,” Prisk said. “He’s gonna invest in your business, invest in you. You’re part of my family. Call God and all that. But he doesn’t do that, and he doesn’t even pay the bill.”

Prisk filed suit in Pennsylvania this month seeking $11,500 from Brown; the suit is pending.

Even though Brown’s tenure as a member of the Oakland Raiders lasted less than six months, he is accused of stiffing someone he worked with there as well — trainer Sean Pena, whom Brown flew to Northern California for one week of training, is suing him for $7,200 in unpaid wages.

Police called on three consecutive days

The SI story says that police were called to Brown’s Pittsburgh-area home three times in the last four years, and each time his girlfriend, Chelsie Kyriss, was involved. Brown and Kyriss have three children together.

None of those calls resulted in an arrest.

According to police in Hollywood, Florida, on Jan. 17 of this year Wiltrice Jackson, who has a daughter with Brown, and the receiver had a domestic dispute over reimbursement for their daughter’s hair appointment.

Brown refused to let Jackson into his home, a loud argument ensued, and Brown allegedly pushed Jackson to the ground; she suffered a cut on her arm. Hollywood Police say Jackson did not want to press charges.

According to police in Sunny Isles, Florida, officers were called to Brown’s home on three straight days in April 2018.

On April 23, Brown called police to report that he’d returned from a trip to find that a handgun and bag containing $80,000 had been stolen from a closet in his apartment.

The next day, police returned after a call that Brown was throwing furniture from the balcony of his 14th-floor residence; officers reported Brown was “very agitated.” (The family of a toddler who was almost struck by the falling furniture sued Brown and the two sides settled in April.)

Then on April 25, Brown called police again, this time saying his Rolls-Royce had been stolen. When police arrived at his address, Brown opened the door and said, “I found the car,” and closed the door.

The next month, May 2018, Brown was back in Pittsburgh and called police, claiming a safe containing $50,000 in cash and $2 million worth of jewelry had been stolen from his bedroom.

Brown tried to pin it on Sam Williams, a former personal assistant he said was the only person who would have had access to his home. Police said Williams passed a polygraph test, and interviews with Williams and at least one other person revealed several people had access to Brown’s house.

Williams, not surprisingly, told police Brown owed him back wages.

Chef told ‘You don’t look him in the eye’

One of the more recent incidents involving Brown that was told to SI came from Stefano Tedeschi, who is known as “Chef Stef” around central Florida.

Tedeschi said he was hired early this year to work at the Orlando-area mansion Brown rented during Pro Bowl week. Like Prisk, Tedeschi had heard of Brown’s negative reputation, but after Tedeschi’s friend, former Steelers linebacker Larry Foote called Brown and told him to treat the chef well, he took the job.

Brown asked Tedeschi if he’d be willing to cook for a party with 40-50 other Pro Bowlers; Tedeschi told him he would charge Brown per person for the meal.

“He came up and asked me and he was very sweet about it,” Tedeschi said, recalling that Brown told him, “I’m not worried about money. That’s not an issue, you know that.”

The chef and his staff made a spread of antipasti, cocktail shrimp and beef tenderloin. Brown was thrilled and promised to talk up Tedeschi on his social media channels.

Tedeschi says throughout the week, as other service people came in and out of the rented home, he heard Brown say more than once, “Get those mother [expletive] crackers out of here,” and that his wife heard him call women at the various gatherings “[expletive] b----.”

(You’ll recall there was a report that Brown also called Raiders general manager Mike Mayock “a cracker” during an argument. An antiquated term, it’s generally but rarely used by black people as a pejorative against white people.)

The chef says Brown’s children were present.

The next day, one of Brown’s assistants told him, “When you speak to Mr. Brown you don’t look him in the eye.” Brown was looking on, and the assistant began yelling, “When you speak to Mr. Brown you don’t look him in the eye!”

Later that day, Brown found a salmon head in the freezer; Tedeschi said it was intended for a soup, but Brown took it as some kind of mafia-style threat on his life.

He refused to pay the $38,521 owed to Tedeschi, who initially didn’t want to file a civil lawsuit, saying he tried to smooth things over with Brown, aware a suit against a celebrity could hurt his business. But he filed suit last month.