This whole thing is becoming intensely messy. Former NBA superstar Ray Allen claimed that he’d been catfished by a man pretending to be several women.
In court documents obtained by TMZ Sports, Allen claims that upon learning that it was, in fact, a man behind the online dating profiles, he ended the relationships. Now the man, Bryant Coleman, claims that the two had a romantic relationship that lasted some three years and that Allen wants him murdered now that it’s over.
“He said he wanted me to get what I deserved,” Coleman told the sports site. Coleman also alleged that Allen “repeatedly spied on me by sending his associates to follow me in my community.”
Coleman said that on Oct. 10, a man approached him inside a Publix grocery store and warned him, “Watch your back.”
Allen’s lawyer David Markus told TMZ Sports that Coleman is a “deranged individual” and said that Coleman’s death-threat allegations are false.
“Ray wants nothing to do with him and is exploring all legal options to stop him from continuing to harass and threaten him, his family and friends,” Markus told TMZ Sports.
Each of them has accused the other of stalking him, and Allen indicates in his lawsuit that the whole thing was just a catfish scam gone awry. According to an emergency motion filed Nov. 21, Allen eventually learned that Coleman was pretending to be several attractive women who were communicating with the former 10-time All-Star.
After learning that Coleman was behind the profiles, Allen attempted to break things off and claims that things took a turn when Coleman tried to blackmail him by releasing details of their communications. The two reached a deal for those conversations to remain private, but Allen claims that Coleman continued to harass him, including sending him threatening messages while inside Allen’s wife’s restaurant.
“He is a seriously deranged individual who Ray Allen has never met, never spoken with directly or threatened in any way. Coleman is the stalker here who is obsessed with Ray,” Allen lawyer Markus told TMZ Sports.
Still, something doesn’t smell right.
Read more at TMZ Sports.