The YouTuber-turned-professional-boxer Jake Paul has denied sexually assaulting TikTok star Justine Paradise only days before his third career fight against former UFC fighter Ben Askren at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Paradise shared a 20-minute video online and alleged Paul, 24, forced her to perform oral sex on him and touched her without her consent.
She said they met several times from June 2019 and she visited Paul’s home in Southern California, known as the Team 10 house.
The alleged assault took place at the house in July of that year, according to Paradise.
She said Paul took her to his room before assaulting her, despite her telling him “no”.
“He didn’t ask for consent or anything,” Paradise alleged. “That’s not okay. On no level at all is that okay.”
Paradise said she had not come forward sooner because she signed a non-disclosure agreement upon entering the property.
On Saturday, Paul is facing Askren in a scheduled eight-round cruiserweight bout that will be broadcast on pay-per-view and Triller, a social networking app that has made a significant investment in boxing programming since last year.
Recently, Triller won a purse bid for Teófimo López’s mandatory IBF lightweight title defense against George Kambosos at a price of $6.02m, well ahead of Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn ($3.56m) and Top Rank’s Bob Arum ($2.32m).
Paul earned a bit of notoriety around the sport last year when he knocked out former NBA player Nate Robinson on the undercard of the November exhibition between Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr.
Paul said Paradise’s allegations are “100% false” and suggested the timing of the accusation was designed to draw attention from Saturday’s fight.
In a statement shared online, he said: “Sexual assault accusations aren’t something that I, or anyone should ever take lightly, but to be crystal clear, this claim made against me is 100% false.
“Not only have I never had any sexual relationship with this individual, but this claim is solely a manufactured accusation and a blatant attempt for attention during a highly visible fight week.”
Paul, who has more than 20 million YouTube subscribers, said he plans to pursue legal action against Paradise, claiming she is guilty of defamation.
He said: “There are irreparable damages from these types of accusations, and more importantly, false allegations of this nature diminish those who have truly been victims of misconduct.”
Paul, whose older brother Logan is also a famous YouTube personality, said he was in a relationship at the time of the alleged assault and described himself as a “momma’s boy”.
He said, “I respect women and mothers more than anything” and added: “I most certainly have never laid a finger on a girl without their consent.”
Paul said he will “fight this to the end to prove my innocence” and described the allegations as “preposterous”.
He added: “As someone who has lived in the spotlight since the age of 16, dealing with liars, fake news, and false accusations unfortunately is a part of this job. I won’t back down from it and years from now my character as individual will show and shine through these dark moments.”
