DALLAS — Lawyers for the woman suing Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said she was not motivated by “fame or fortune” when they filed the lawsuit, but is instead asking a court to find that she is not legally bound to an agreement that her mother and Jones made when she was a child.
Alexandra Davis’ attorneys released a statement to ESPN on Thursday saying that the 25-year-old wants to be untied from an agreement “that attempts to prohibit her from stating who her real father is.” She is also seeking declaration from the court that such settlement agreements should be “unenforceable” in Texas.
The lawsuit, filed March 3 in Dallas County, details some parts of the agreement, including the allegation that Jones is Davis’ biological father. It also says that Jones and Davis’ mother, Cynthia Davis, agreed to a settlement with Jones for him to financially support them as long as they did not publicly disclose he was the father.
Breaching the deal would result in financial support being cut off and the possibility of Jones or his authorized agent suing, according to the court documents.
“Ms. Davis’ lawsuit does not seek the recovery of money,” her lawyers, Andrew Bergman and Jay Gray, said in the statement to ESPN. “Surely, anyone can understand this need of a child no matter what age to have the ability to say they have a father without the fear of reprisal.”
Lawyers for Davis and Jones have not responded to multiple calls and emails from The Dallas Morning News. Jones’ personal spokesman, Jim Wilkinson, declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Alexandra Davis’ lawsuit alleges that a lump-sum payment of $375,000 was paid to Cynthia Davis once the settlement was executed, and two trusts were set up and funded by Jones for Alexandra Davis. Alexandra Davis was to receive “certain monthly, annual and special funding” from the trusts until she turned 21, and yearly lump sums when she turned 24, 26 and 28.
The lawsuit said a paragraph in the agreement states that if Cynthia Davis or anyone on behalf of the child, Alexandra Davis, were to bring a legal proceeding to establish paternity, then Jones could end the agreement and the funding of the trusts.
But lawyers said in the lawsuit that the Uniform Parentage Act has no statute of limitations for an adult child to bring a parentage action. According to the act, after the child becomes an adult, any proceedings to make a formal decision of the parentage of the adult child can only be maintained by the adult child.
Alexandra Davis’ lawyers told ESPN that before the filing, she made “numerous attempts to address this matter in private” but was ignored by Jones and his lawyers.
According to court documents, Cynthia Davis was married but estranged from her husband when she met Jones. Jones “pursued” Cynthia Davis and the pair began a relationship, according to court documents.
Alexandra Davis was born Dec. 16, 1996, the same year the Cowboys last won the Super Bowl. Shortly after her birth, Cynthia Davis and her husband filed for divorce. During the divorce proceedings, the lawsuit says, genetic testing determined that Alexandra Davis was not the child of Cynthia Davis’ husband.
The lawsuit says Jones and his lawyers negotiated a settlement with Cynthia Davis that would “exchange money for silence.” Jones had his friend and lawyer Donald Jack act on his behalf to help Cynthia Davis with her divorce proceedings, alleging that it was in Jones’ “best interest” for Cynthia Davis to finalize the divorce before he was legally declared or identified as Alexandra Davis’ father, according to the lawsuit.
Court documents say Jones barred Alexandra Davis from ever seeking to legally establish paternity. She was about a year old when the agreement was negotiated, the lawsuit says, and has lived in fear of losing financial support from Jones if she told anyone who her father was.
The lawsuit says the only time Alexandra Davis disclosed her father’s identity was when she had to obtain security clearance to work in the White House for President Donald Trump. She works for U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson, an Amarillo Republican and former physician for Trump.
It’s unclear why Alexandra Davis filed the lawsuit now. The lawsuit mentions that 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 Jerry Jones regarding that deposition.
The lawsuit was temporarily sealed Wednesday ahead of a hearing scheduled for March 31 to determine whether it should remain sealed, court records show. The Dallas Morning News obtained the lawsuit through the county’s online court records system before the file was sealed.
———
Staff writer David Moore contributed to this report.
