Woman files defamation lawsuit against Cowboys owner Jerry Jones
A woman filed a lawsuit against Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, claiming defamation, alleging that Jones and two others made deliberate attempts to call her out as an "extortionist" and "shakedown artist."
ESPN first reported the news.
Alexandra Davis, a 26-year-old Washington, D.C. resident, says in court documents obtained by USA TODAY Sports, that defendants Jones, James Wilkinson and Donald Jack, Jr. called Jones an "extortionist" out to shakedown down Jones for millions of dollars.
Davis filed the suit Monday in a Texarkana, Texas, federal court and seeks an undisclosed amount in actual and punitive damages.
"Not once did Defendant Jones or any of his agents ever deny that Plaintiff was Defendant Jones' daughter," the lawsuit says. "Instead, Defendant Jones chose the avenue of calling his own daughter an 'extortionist' merely to make his own public image less despicable by attempting to discredit Plaintiff's reputation and character in the public eye."
The lawsuit says that Jack gave an affidavit to ESPN claiming that Davis had demanded money from Jones years earlier, meaning her most "recent lawsuit was an extortion attempt."
Davis' lawyer says that Jerry Jones and his co-defendants "have been successful in their smear campaign to destroy the reputation of Plaintiff."
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The lawsuit uses the example of conducting a Google search for "Alexandra Davis extortionist." That search has 4 million results and a search for "Alexandra Davis shakedown artist" has over 2 million hits.
"This does not take into account the other search engines, numerous print publications of the same nature, nor television broadcasts. Many of the referenced articles resulting from these searches display a headline in some form or another referring to Plaintiff to be claimed by Defendant Jones as extorting him," the lawsuit states.
Davis, who currently works as an aide for U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson, sued the 80-year-old Cowboys owner last year, in which she wanted to be acknowledged as Jones' daughter. A court then ordered Jones to give a paternity test, which has been delayed. The lawsuit also claimed that Jones made a $375,000 payment to her and hid that he was her father by setting up two separate trusts.
"At no time did Plaintiff attempt to 'shake down' Defendant Jones, nor did Plaintiff coordinate with any other party or person in seeking her legal right to determine her legal father," the lawsuit states.
Jones was in Phoenix for the league's annual meetings, and an attempt to contact his attorney Levi McCathern was unsuccessful.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jerry Jones: Alexandra Davis sues Dallas Cowboys owner for defamation
