Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban on Wednesday denied an allegation that he sexually assaulted a woman in 2011 at a Portland, Oregon bar.
Late Tuesday, the Portland-based Willamette Week reported an April 2011 incident in which Cuban allegedly thrust his hand down the back of a woman’s pants while posing for a photograph, according to a police report later obtained by WFAA.
WFAA received the following statement from Cuban’s office Wednesday morning:
"Investigators obtained a series of seven photographs taken with a cell phone camera showing the complainant and her female friend standing next to Mr. Cuban and smiling. The victim asserts the photographs were taken at the moment of the digital penetration, but nothing is revealed in the photographs which demonstrates a sexual assault or even inappropriate physical contact."
In an email to The Associated Press late Tuesday night, Cuban’s office wrote that "it didn't happen." Cuban was never charged after he passed a polygraph test and police determined there was insufficient evidence.
The alleged incident occurred in the early morning hours of April 23, 2011, when Cuban and the Mavericks were in Portland for a playoff series against the Trailblazers. A friend of the woman later claimed Cuban was drunk at the time of the alleged assault, according to the Willamette Week.
The alleged victim reported the assault to police on May 11, according to the police report.
A police detective labeled two photos as “significant” during the investigation, but investigators ultimately claimed there was “no corroborative evidence” to prove the allegation true and suspended the case in July of 2011.
"She said she was worried about the potential publicity and did not want to be labeled as 'that girl' involved in a sex scandal with Mark Cuban," the redacted report reads.
The allegation comes just weeks after a bombshell Sports Illustrated report that claimed to uncover an abusive work culture within the Mavs organization, citing several alleged incidents of sexual harrassment and domestic violence.
The SI report included claims of inappropriate sexual conduct by former CEO Terdema Ussery and raised questions about what Cuban knew and when.
In the wake of the SI report, Cuban fired Mavs.com reporter Earl K. Sneed, telling ESPN that keeping Sneed on board after multiple domestic violence incidents was “a horrible mistake in hindsight.”