DALLAS — Lawyers for a woman suing Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Tuesday that allegations that she tried to extort money from him are “sad and repugnant.”
Andrew Bergman, an attorney for 25-year-old Alexandra Davis, said he “categorically and completely” denies that Davis ever demanded money from Jones related to the lawsuit. Davis sued Jones earlier this month and said she was his daughter.
“I challenge Mr. Jones, or any of his multitude of lawyers, media and marketing representatives, crisis management teams, or anyone else on his behalf to publicly demonstrate the slightest truth to any of the allegations,” Bergman said. “It is sad and repugnant that he has chosen this path to damage his daughter more than he already has.”
In the court filing filed Monday afternoon, Jones’ lawyers said Davis delivered a draft of the lawsuit to Jones and offered to “make a deal” to “assure that he would not be publicly or privately identified” as her father. Jones’ court filing does not address whether Davis is Jones’ daughter.
The lawsuit was filed after Jones declined to pay, the court filing said, and it was filed when Jones and the NFL team were facing “monetary extortion attempts” and alleges the lawsuit is one of them. The filing did not detail allegations of other extortion attempts.
“She is not entitled to the relief she requests, and the Court does not have jurisdiction to grant it,” the filing said.
Davis’ lawsuit was temporarily sealed ahead of a hearing set for Thursday to determine whether it should remain out of the public eye. But Jones withdrew his request Tuesday and said in a court filing hearing is “unnecessary.” Davis’ lawyers were unopposed to the request, according to the court filing.
At the NFL Annual Meeting on Monday, Jones told reporters that the lawsuit was a personal matter. Lawyers for Jones did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment.
The lawsuit, filed March 3 in Dallas County, says that Jones and Davis' mother, Cynthia Davis, had a relationship in the mid-1990s that resulted in her birth. Alexandra Davis was born in 1996, the same year the Cowboys last won the Super Bowl.
The lawsuit also said that Jones and Davis’ mother agreed to a settlement for Jones to financially support them as long as they did not publicly disclose he was the father. The agreement states that if Cynthia Davis or anyone on behalf of Alexandra Davis were to bring a legal proceeding to establish paternity, then Jones could end the agreement and the funding of the trusts, according to the lawsuit.
It’s unclear why the lawsuit was filed, but the petition said Cynthia Davis was subpoenaed to give a deposition in the divorce proceedings of Jones’ daughter, Charlotte Jones Anderson, and alleges Cynthia Davis was contacted by at least one person associated with Jones regarding that deposition.
ESPN reported Monday that a March 10 demand letter from Charles Babcock, one of Jones’ lawyers, connects Davis’ lawsuit against Jones to the divorce proceedings.
The letter advises David “Shy” Anderson to save documents and other evidence, including any communication with Alexandra and Cynthia Davis, “all efforts to obtain monies from Mr. Jones directly or indirectly” and “all efforts to obtain information you and/or your counsel consider embarrassing to Mr. Jones,” ESPN reported.
Cynthia and Alexandra Davis starred in the third and final season of Big Rich Texas, a reality show based in Dallas-Fort Worth that followed five wealthy women and their daughters. At the time, representatives for Cynthia Davis said she was living off a trust fund. Alexandra Davis works for U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson, an Amarillo Republican, according to her LinkedIn profile.
