Football super-agent Jonathan Barnett accused of keeping woman as ‘sex slave'
An unnamed woman filed a lawsuit on Wednesday alleging that Barnett coerced the woman from Australia to the UK in 2017 and kept her as a 'sex slave' for six years, raping her over 39 times.
She alleges that he 'trafficked, threatened, tortured and held' her in bondage across different locations around the world, including in Los Angeles, where the lawsuit has been filed. These threats alleged included those 'to her life and the lives of her minor children".
The woman, who is referred to in the case as 'Jane Doe', has also sued Barnett's former employers Creative Artists Agency (CAA) - a Hollywood talent agency - which faces allegations that it 'used its employees and emissaries to assist Barnett in keeping' her as his 'sex slave'.
Barnett and CAA have denied the allegations.
'The claims made in today's complaint against me have no basis in reality and are untrue,' Barnett said in a statement. 'We will vigorously defend this lawsuit through the appropriate legal process. I am looking forward to being entirely vindicated and exonerated.'
Barnett, 75, retired last year after spending over 40 years as one of the most renowned sports agents, helping orchestrate Bale's world-record £85.3m move from Tottenham to Real Madrid in 2013. As well as Grealish, he also managed the likes of Ivan Toney and Jordan Pickford. He was ranked as the world's most powerful sports agent by Forbes in 2019.
According to court documents, Barnett and Jane Doe first met in the 1990s through a professional athlete in London before reconnecting 27 years later, first online via LinkedIn before meeting in person.
She was convinced to relocate to the UK from Australia with her teenage children, just weeks after getting back in touch in 2017, with Barnett's sports agency CAA Stellar covering moving expenses.
The filing claims that she was raped in a hotel room in their first meeting as Barnett told her he 'owned' her. Barnett allegedly went on to impose strict rules of obedience on her, with the lawsuit saying she was made to refer to him as 'My Master'.
The complaint goes on to describe that she would allegedly be 'tied up overnight without food or water' and would be forced to indulge in degrading acts such as drinking urine or ingesting faeces.
'This is a case about institutional abuse at the highest level,' the complaint reads. 'This case is about how one of the world's most powerful men in sports openly kept a sex slave for years, with the assistance of his employees, accountants, emissaries, and family members, and used his money and power to maintain coercive control over her and keep her in fear for her life and the lives of her children.'
The lawsuit says that CAA 'knew or should have known' about the abusive behaviour, but the company strongly denies any prior knowledge of the complaints prior to first learning the allegations in January 2024.
'While the complaint attempts to connect these allegations to CAA's business, Ms. Doe has never been an employee, consultant, or contractor of CAA, ICM, or Stellar, nor has she ever had any business connection to CAA, ICM, or Stellar,' it said in a statement.
Barnett was the co-founder of London-based sports agency Stellar Group in 1994 before it was sold to Hollywood agency ICM Partners in 2020. ICM later merged with CAA after being acquired by their larger rival.
Jane Doe's lawyers are seeking compensation on her behalf. Barnett and CAA have 20 days to respond to the allegations by filing to the court.
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