Why is Jerry Jones being sued for defamation? Woman claiming to be billionaire Cowboys owner re-files case
A woman who claims to be the daughter of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones re-filed a defamation lawsuit on Tuesday after saying that she was forced to stay silent for decades.
Last month, a federal judge threw out the defamation lawsuit by 26-year-old Alexandra Davis against Jones, his longtime personal lawyer Donald P. Jack, and Jim Wilkinson, a communications consultant for the Jones family.
Cynthia Davis-Spencer, Alexandra's mother, reportedly agreed to a private settlement with Jerry Jones when Davis was only a year old. With the settlement, the billionaire agreed to pay child support until Davis was 21, but denied paternity.
As per reports, there was also a clause in the contract that neither the mother nor daughter could go public about the relationship, despite Davis only being one year old at the time.
In the original lawsuit, Davis claims that she was too young for the agreement to be applied to her. She ended up withdrawing that lawsuit but filed a new one asking the court to legally establish that Jones is her father through a DNA test, which is still pending.
Although the original defamation lawsuit was dismissed in October, the judge allowed her the chance to refile barring she could allege the defendants acted with “actual malice” against her.
In her new lawsuit, per ABC news, Davis claims that she did not ask for money in exchange for her silence as Jerry Jones and his lawyers allege she did.
“Jones knew at the time that he entered into the Settlement Agreement that entering into a contract which attempted to bind a one-year-old minor… was not enforceable,” Davis’ attorneys said in a June court filing.
As of now, there is no date for when this case will go to court if it will at all.
Jerry Jones won't comment on the lawsuit
The billionaire Dallas Cowboys owner has not commented on the defamation lawsuit being filed against him.
But, last year, the Cowboys owner was asked about Davis filing the paternity lawsuit, which is still pending. Jones was quick to shut it down and didn't give much of a comment.
“That is personal,” he said.
Since then, Jones hasn't spoken publicly about any of the lawsuits against him as he is waiting for it to play out in court.