Football super-agent Jonathan Barnett, who is under criminal investigation in London over allegations of rape and torture of a ‘sex slave’, outright called his alleged victim his ‘slave’, according to new court filings. He denied any wrongdoing.
A woman referred to as ‘Jane Doe’ has accused Barnett, who was recognised in 2019 by Forbes magazine as the world’s most powerful football agent after brokering more than £1billion in transfer fees – including Gareth Bale’s record-breaking £90million move from Tottenham to Real Madrid in 2013 – of trafficking her from Australia to the UK and raping her ‘in excess of 39 times’.
The civil complaint, which was lodged in July in the United States, alleged that Barnett raped the woman in a London hotel in 2017 before later subjecting her to six years of sexual assault and torture.
The female claimant also alleged that the six-year period of abuse was enabled by a financial bondage held over her and her two teenage children.
According to legal documents obtained by the Telegraph last year, Barnett has acknowledged paying his accuser ‘well in excess of £1milllion’ to keep her silence after their ‘consensual personal relationship’ broke down.
Now, the publication reports that Barnett told the woman she was his ‘slave’ in a company email.
Football super-agent Jonathan Barnett (pictured) called his alleged victim a ‘slave’ in a company email
Barnett (left) is under criminal investigation in London over allegations of rape and torture of a ‘sex slave’ – he brokered Gareth Bale’s £90million move to Real Madrid
Barnett hired prominent Hollywood entertainment lawyer Marty Singer in an effort to get the civil claim thrown out and has consistently and strenuously denied all wrongdoing and previously said that he is ‘looking forward to being entirely vindicated and exonerated’.
He said in a court statement last year: ‘When my relationship with plaintiff ended in or around September 2021, she threatened to publicly disclose the relationship unless I paid her significant sums of money.
‘As a result of those threats, I paid plaintiff for a number of years, ultimately paying her well in excess of £1,000,000.
‘To my knowledge, other than during periods when plaintiff may have been travelling outside of the UK, all payments I made to plaintiff were made to her in England,’ Barnett, whose offices reside in London, added.
‘All personal meetings, interactions and communications between me and plaintiff took place solely in London. The location of all hotels, apartments or other places where plaintiff and I met during the entirety of our relationship are located solely in London.’
Barnett, alongside co-defendants the Creative Artists Agency (CAA) – which denies any business connection with the claimant – has filed motions to dismiss the claim in recent months.
The woman, in new documents, counters CAA’s claim that a US court should not be able to give a ruling due to most of Barnett’s work being in London.
Ms Doe’s filing includes: ‘As alleged in the complaint and confirmed with Doe’s affidavit evidence, after the purchase of ICM’s purchase of Stellar in 2020, Stellar corporate leadership, including its CEO and a majority of its board of directors, were based in its Los Angeles office.
Barnett hired prominent Hollywood entertainment lawyer Marty Singer in an effort to get the civil claim thrown out
‘Essentially, Barnett used his control of Stellar to turn it into a venture that trafficked vulnerable women. ICM joined this venture when it purchased Stellar and continued to endorse, support, and promote Barnett despite having or should have learned of his crimes. The CAA Defendants did the same after the ICM–CAA Merger.’
The response to CAA’s claim from Ms Doe includes emails from Barnett, with one, from February 2021, reading: ‘Let your master know when slave is ready back in position.’
In the initial complaint, she also alleges that Barnett ‘directed Ms Doe to “hunt” for additional sex slaves in Los Angeles,’ which is denied by Barnett.
