A powerful football agent who denies claims that he kept a sex slave has reportedly been accused of threatening to attack her if she spoke out against him.
Jonathan Barnett, who was Gareth Bale[1]‘s agent and founded the agency which represents Jack Grealish[2], has been accused by the female claimant as threatening to ‘smash her face in and break her legs’.
The Daily Mail reported in July[3] how Barnett is alleged to have trafficked his victim from Australia in 2017, subjected her to degrading acts, raped her at least 39 times and threatened to kill her and her children if she spoke out. That was alleged in a civil document in a US court.
Barnett denies the allegations, made by a woman known only as Jane Doe, while the agency he founded, CAA Stellar Sports, and their owners Creative Artists Agency are preparing to fight the case as co-defendants.
Now The Telegraph[4] have related an episode alleged in the court paper where Doe told one of CAA Stellar’s drivers that she was ‘trapped as a slave’.
According to the report, Doe arrived at Barnett’s house in December 2021 with ‘the courage to confront’ him, turning up with a bag of sex objects that he used to torture her with the plan of leaving them on his doorstep.
A retired football agent has been accused of threatening to attack his alleged sex slave if she spoke out, though he has denied the allegations lodged against him
Jonathan Barnett is accused of raping his alleged victim at least 39 times
He was Gareth Bale’s (right) agent while his agency has also had Jack Grealish in its stable
The claim reads: ‘When she arrived, and to her surprise, Barnett was standing in front of the home near a CAA Stellar car and driver. Ms Doe pulled up next to the car and signalled for the driver to come to her window.
‘Upon his approach, she proceeded to tell him: “I don’t know about you, but he has me trapped as a slave.” She then handed him the bag of sex objects and said: “This is for Jonathan Barnett.”
‘Upon seeing Ms Doe, Barnett approached the car, leaned into the passenger side window, and said something to the effect of: “I will smash your face in and break your legs if you ever speak of this again. Don’t think you’ll be safe if you go home.”‘
After that incident, Barnett is said to have offered a settlement of £30,000, but ultimately no money changed hands and by April 25, 2023, Doe was in hospital receiving treatment.
As the Daily Mail reported in July[5], Barnett also allegedly forced the unnamed plaintiff to ‘hunt for additional slaves,’ according to the complaint.
He made her call him ‘master,’ referred to her simply as ‘slave,’ forced her to drink her own urine and kicked and beat her so violently she developed a tumour on her back which requires chemotherapy treatment, the statement of claim lodged in California says.
‘After every occasion that he physically abused the plaintiff, Barnett demanded she send him photographs and videos of the marks he left on her body to his company phone,’ the document continues.
Barnett, according to the complaint, is said to have sent the woman a message over LinkedIn in 2017, having met years earlier.
He allegedly forced the woman to lick a toilet seat, drink her own urine and self-harm
He invited her to lunch in an exclusive members-only restaurant in Mayfair and told her ‘I am Stellar, you should come and work for me,’ the document claims.
He offered her a starting salary of £4,000 a month, to cover the costs of visas for her and her two children and covered her travel to London, the paper alleges.
After she moved to Britain, Barnett exercised ‘debt bondage’ to keep her under his control and made increasingly ‘demented’ demands, it is alleged.
Describing an alleged encounter in a hotel suite soon after the alleged victim arrived in Britain, the document states: ‘As if a switch had flipped, Barnett’s demeanor changed. Barnett was suddenly direct and aggressive.’
The complaint reads: ‘Barnett told the plaintiff that she was not allowed to speak or look at him, that he “owned” her and she was now his slave, and she “owed him” for the opportunity he was giving her.
‘Barnett further told Ms. Doe that, moving forward, she was to refer to him as “my Master” and that she would be killed, and her children disadvantaged, if she ever spoke out.’
He then raped the woman, it is alleged, before subjecting her to torture and increasingly degrading demands.
He forced the woman to lick the toilet seat, drink her own urine and self-harm, and would demand videos of her engaging in such acts, it is alleged.
Barnett is accused of beating the woman so hard that she developed a tumour that requires chemotherapy, though he denies the allegations
‘Barnett was obsessed with treating her like a dog, kicking her and keeping dog leashes, a dog bone, and heavy collars that he used on her violently,’ the document states.
‘Barnett had other animal obsessions, including but not limited to, Barnett stripping naked and riding around the room on [her] back, forcing her to crawl and telling her she was a pony while he whipped her.
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‘The heavy weight of Barnett on [her] back and knees often left her with pain, bruises, and bleeding knees,’ the complaint alleges.
Barnett would encourage the woman to hunt for more slaves, likening the exercise to his own role recruiting footballers, the paper claims.
‘After approximately two months of violent abuse by Barnett, he ordered Ms. Doe to participate in an all-consuming task that he called “slave hunting”,’ the document states.
‘When Barnett initially explained her duties to her, she objected. In response, he said, “Think of it as a game like football”,’ the complaint reads.
According to the civil claim, as per The Telegraph’s report, Barnett’s enslavement was facilitated with ‘the assistance of his employees, accountants, emissaries, and family members’.
‘Ms Doe was also afraid of CAA Stellar employees and agents as they facilitated her enslavement and had access to her leases, bank accounts and children,’ the paper reads.
Barnett masterminded Gareth Bale’s £85million move from Tottenham to Real Madrid
This is why she claims she is a ‘victim of institutional abuse at the highest level’.
In July, Barnett made his only statement so far, saying: ‘The claims made in today’s 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.’
Tamara Holder, one of Ms Doe’s attorneys, told Telegraph Sport: ‘CAA’s Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement explicitly says the group has taken “steps to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in any part of our business”. As part of this action, we intend to scrutinise whether CAA’s public claims align with their actual business practices.’
Barnett, who was educated at St Marylebone Grammar School, announced his retirement last year.
References
- ^ Gareth Bale (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Jack Grealish (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ The Daily Mail reported in July (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ The Telegraph (www.telegraph.co.uk)
- ^ As the Daily Mail reported in July (www.dailymail.co.uk)