LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Boston Celtics player Tristan Thompson says in new court papers that the $100,000 he is seeking from a woman who said he is the father of her 5-year-old son represents less than half of the amount he has lost in employment and endorsement income because of her allegedly false claim.
Thompson, 30, originally sued Kimberly Alexander in Los Angeles Superior Court in May 2020, then filed a revised complaint Feb. 24, alleging libel and invasion of privacy, and is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
Alexander, a North Hollywood resident who is representing herself in the litigation, could not be immediately reached.
``For the five years prior to Ms. Alexander first publishing her defamatory statements falsely asserting that I am the father of her son ... I regularly received and accepted offers of endorsement deals worth an average of approximately $250,000 per year,'' Thompson states in a sworn declaration in support of his request that Judge Timothy Patrick Dillon issue a default judgment against Alexander. A hearing is scheduled Tuesday.
Thompson's suit calls Alexander a ``wannabe social media influencer and pornographic model/performer who is so desperate to achieve her 15 minutes of fame that she recently fabricated a false claim that NBA star/(Boston Celtics) center/power forward Thompson is the father of her 5-year-old son.''
If Alexander had a legitimate belief that Thompson was the father of her child, she would have sought financial support for the child years ago, the suit states.
Although a DNA test determined Thompson is not the father of the child, she has ``maliciously accused Thompson of being a deadbeat dad, neglecting and failing to take financial responsibility for the child since birth,'' the suit states.
After the DNA test proved that Thompson was not the father of her child, Alexander refused to accept the results and falsely accused Thompson and others allegedly acting on his behalf, including Khloe Kardashian, the mother of Thompson's daughter, of manipulating the results, the amended suit states.
Most of Thompson's contracts with the NBA and in endorsement deals contain morals clauses that give the other parties the right to end the deals if he engages in conduct that may cast the team or the brand in a negative light, Thompson says.
``Therefore, by falsely accusing me of engaging in sabotage to falsify DNA test results, and neglecting my alleged parental responsibilities to her son, Ms. Alexander has harmed my professional reputation and interfered with my employment opportunities,'' Thompson says.
No brand would want to be represented by or associated with someone with a reputation for shirking his responsibilities as a father, according to Thompson.
Thompson alleges that Alexander, a model and longtime Florida resident, moved to California likely because she believed the law would be more favorable to her in this state in a paternity proceeding. He also alleges Alexander has money problems and has been evicted from five homes in the past seven years, including as recently as July 2019.
After Thompson's lawyers sent Alexander a letter demanding she stop allegedly defaming him, she stepped up her false attacks on the NBA player on Instagram, the suit alleges.
Thompson says he agreed to take a second DNA test, but Alexander refused. He further says he is the father of two young children and takes ``extremely seriously'' his responsibilities as a parent.
``Had the DNA test results shown that Ms. Alexander's child was my son, I would have done the same for (her) child without hesitation,'' Thompson says.
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