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Cristiano Ronaldo admitted that he paid $375,000 in hush money to a woman who claimed she was raped by the soccer star. Despite paying the woman off, Ronaldo denies the allegations and says he is innocent.
The rape accuser, Kathryn Mayorga, alleged that Juventus F.C star Cristiano Ronaldo raped her in a Las Vegas hotel room in 2009. The two apparently met at the VIP section of the Rain Nightclub in the Palms resort on June 12, 2009. Then she went with CR7 to a party at his penthouse suite at the Hotel Palms Place, where the then-25-year-old Mayorga alleges that Ronaldo raped her.
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Mayorga filed a report with the police, but did not identify Ronaldo by name, only describing her attacker as a “huge soccer star.” At the time, Kathryn was a model, who often made appearances at Las Vegas bars and nightclubs in order to attract men.
Ronaldo was in Las Vegas while on vacation with his brother-in-law and his cousin. This was the same summer that the then-24-year-old soccer star transferred from Manchester United to Real Madrid for a then-record sum of $104 million.
Then in 2018, Mayorga identified Cristiano Ronaldo as her attacker. Las Vegas police opened an investigation, but never brought charges against Ronaldo due to lack of evidence and dropped the case in July. Mayorga then filed a civil lawsuit against the soccer legend.
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Ronaldo filed new court documents asking the judge to throw out the case because they have a binding settlement agreement, plus the statute of limitations had expired. In the new documents, Ronaldo admitted to making a huge payment to Mayorga.
According to court documents obtained by TMZ Sports, Ronaldo reportedly paid $375,000 in hush money to Mayorga in 2010.
“Mr. Ronaldo paid Plaintiff the sum of $375,000 and both parties agreed to be bound by explicit confidentiality and non-disparagement obligations,” Ronaldo’s estate stated in court documents.
Despite the payout, Ronaldo denies the rape allegations and says he is innocent. Ronaldo is proclaiming his innocence and said he only paid the hush money to try to not sully his reputation and keep the negative coverage out of the public eye.
“Rape is an abominable crime that goes against everything that I am and believe in,” Ronaldo said about the rape allegations. “Keen as I may be to clear my name, I refuse to feed the media spectacle created by people seeking to promote themselves at my expense.”
In the settlement, Mayorga signed a confidentiality agreement as part of the settlement in the civil lawsuit.
The judge will decide if Mayorga can move forward with her civil lawsuit against Ronaldo, despite already being paid off. Mayorga, who is now 34, said she only signed the confidentiality agreement “out of fear for herself and her family.”
Mayorga had worked at an elementary school until recently, but then she quit “because I need all my strength now.”