Marriott says Michael Irvin made lewd comments, was aggressively flirtatious to staffer
On the same day a federal judge ordered Marriott to release all audio and video of an alleged improper incident between former Dallas Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin and a hotel employee at the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown, the hotel detailed the employee’s accusation in a court filing on Friday.
The document, which was obtained by the Dallas Morning News, described an intoxicated Irvin making a lewd comment and being aggressively flirtatious.
When Feb. 5 incident was reported to hotel management, Irvin was removed from the property. He was also removed from Super Bowl LVII coverage by the NFL Network and ESPN. Neither have yet to put him back on air.
Irvin has denied doing anything improper and has filed a $100 million defamation suit against Marriott.
His request for video of the incident was finally granted on Friday after U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant lambasted Marriott for not releasing the video earlier.
“I am not accustomed to, as a judge, people violating my orders,” Judge Mazzant said. “It seems like Marriott just looked at my order and didn’t want to produce the video.”
Irvin’s attorney Levi McCathern told the Star-Telegram he plans to release the video the public next week.
He told the Dallas Morning News that the Marriott account detailed in the motion “was hogwash”.
According to Marriott, Irvin flagged the employee down, introduced himself and asked what she did for work before upping the aggression and making the employee uncomfortable.
“Irvin also reached out and touched the Victim’s arm during this conversation without her consent, causing her to step back, becoming visibly uncomfortable,” Marriott attorney Nathan Chapman wrote in the document. “Irvin then asked the Victim whether she knew anything about having a ‘big Black man inside of [her].’ Taken aback by Irvin’s comments, the Victim responded that his comments were inappropriate, and she did not wish to discuss it further.
“Irvin then attempted to grab the Victim’s hand again and said he was ‘sorry if he brought up bad memories’ for her.’ The Victim pulled her hand away and tried to back away from Irvin as he continued to move towards her.”
Upon noticing other employees watching them, Irvin offered good bye handshake.
“Seeing that other Hotel employees were in the area and wanting the interaction to end, the Victim returned Irvin’s handshake,” Marriott said in the filing. “Irvin then stated that he would come back to find her sometime that week when she was working.”
The Marriott court filing also included a description of Irvin “leering” at the woman as she walked away.
A second employee approached Irvin and allegedly heard him say, “She bad, She bad, I want to hit that. Irvin then supposedly slapped himself in the face three times before saying, “Keep it together, Mike.”
The female staffer reported Irvin’s comments to her manager next day.
The Marriott then reported the incident to the NFL, which had asked hotel to notify the league should any issues arise involving any employees booked at the property.
Irvin, who has admitted being intoxicated after dinner, has two witnesses who gave a different account of the interaction.
Irvin says he’s being railroaded by false accusations that could threaten his broadcasting career. He compared the accusations to a modern day lynching of a Black man without evidence.
McCathern disputes Marriott’s details of the event. He says the video shows that Irvin did nothing wrong and the accusations are nonsense.
This story was originally published March 11, 2023 at 7:47 AM.
