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Gareth Bale’s ex-agent Jonathan Barnett denies accusations of rape in US lawsuit
Former sports agent Jonathan Barnett has strenuously denied allegations of rape and sex trafficking – insisting they ‘have no basis in reality’. In a US lawsuit, Barnett has been accused of raping a woman, referred to as ‘Jane Doe’, over 39 times. Former football agent Barnett (right) is being sued in an American courtgetty The civil complaint, lodged at a US district court in Los Angeles, adds Barnett ‘trafficked’ a women from Australia to the UK in 2017. It is also alleged Barnett ‘tortured’ the woman and kept her as a ‘sex slave’ over a six-year period. In a statement issued via his lawyers, Barnett said: “The claims made in [the] complaint against me have no basis in reality and are untrue. “We will vigorously defend this lawsuit through the appropriate legal process. “I am looking forward to being entirely vindicated and exonerated.” Hollywood talent group Creative Artists Agency (CAA), who previously employed Barnett, said it learned of the allegations in 2024. Barnett left the company a month later. CAA said in a statement: “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. “CAA takes any allegations of this nature seriously, and through counsel, promptly urged Ms Doe to contact law enforcement in the United Kingdom.” Barnett, who co-founded and chaired Stellar Group, retired from working as a sports agent last year having previously represented Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur icon Gareth Bale. He has denied the accusations against himWest Bromwich Albion via Getty He was also named by Forbes as the most powerful sports agent in the world in 2019 having brokered over $1billion in active contracts and transfer fees. Court documents claim the woman met Barnett in the 1990s in London before they reconnected in 2017 when he privately messaged her on LinkedIn. The woman moved to the UK shortly after with her two teenage children. CAA Stellar, which was headed by Barnett, covered the woman’s moving expenses. Upon arrival, the woman alleged Barnett raped her at a London hotel and said he ‘owned’ her. The lawsuit added Barnett directed the woman to refer to him as ‘My Master’ and to ‘never say it hurts’. Barnett has brokered billions of dollars worth of dealsGetty She alleged she was ‘trafficked, threatened, tortured, and held’ in different locations across the world from 2017 to 2023. The court documents stated Barnett exerted ‘coercive control’ over the woman via ‘money and power’, which left her ‘in fear of her life and the lives of her children’. As well as Barnett, the woman is suing Creative Artists Agency and CAA Stellar. She alleges she received substantial payments on multiple occasions between 2017 and 2023. But given she was not a Stellar athlete or agent, she believed ‘this conduct should have raised numerous red flags’ for CAA to investigate the payments and ‘the relationship the company had to the persons they were tasked with assisting.’
Former sports agent Jonathan Barnett has strenuously denied allegations of rape and sex trafficking – insisting they ‘have no basis in reality’.
In a US lawsuit, Barnett has been accused of raping a woman, referred to as ‘Jane Doe’, over 39 times.
The civil complaint, lodged at a US district court in Los Angeles, adds Barnett ‘trafficked’ a women from Australia to the UK in 2017.
It is also alleged Barnett ‘tortured’ the woman and kept her as a ‘sex slave’ over a six-year period.
In a statement issued via his lawyers, Barnett said: “The claims made in [the] complaint against me have no basis in reality and are untrue.
“We will vigorously defend this lawsuit through the appropriate legal process.
“I am looking forward to being entirely vindicated and exonerated.”
Hollywood talent group Creative Artists Agency (CAA), who previously employed Barnett, said it learned of the allegations in 2024.
Barnett left the company a month later.
CAA said in a statement: “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.
“CAA takes any allegations of this nature seriously, and through counsel, promptly urged Ms Doe to contact law enforcement in the United Kingdom.”
Barnett, who co-founded and chaired Stellar Group, retired from working as a sports agent last year having previously represented Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur icon Gareth Bale.
He was also named by Forbes as the most powerful sports agent in the world in 2019 having brokered over $1billion in active contracts and transfer fees.
Court documents claim the woman met Barnett in the 1990s in London before they reconnected in 2017 when he privately messaged her on LinkedIn.
The woman moved to the UK shortly after with her two teenage children.
CAA Stellar, which was headed by Barnett, covered the woman’s moving expenses.
Upon arrival, the woman alleged Barnett raped her at a London hotel and said he ‘owned’ her.
The lawsuit added Barnett directed the woman to refer to him as ‘My Master’ and to ‘never say it hurts’.
She alleged she was ‘trafficked, threatened, tortured, and held’ in different locations across the world from 2017 to 2023.
The court documents stated Barnett exerted ‘coercive control’ over the woman via ‘money and power’, which left her ‘in fear of her life and the lives of her children’.
As well as Barnett, the woman is suing Creative Artists Agency and CAA Stellar.
She alleges she received substantial payments on multiple occasions between 2017 and 2023.
But given she was not a Stellar athlete or agent, she believed ‘this conduct should have raised numerous red flags’ for CAA to investigate the payments and ‘the relationship the company had to the persons they were tasked with assisting.’
