Oscar De La Hoya Sued by Playboy Model for $5 million
Retired boxer Oscar De La Hoya is being sued for $5 million dollars for allegedly assaulting a playboy model.
Angelica Marie Cecora, 25, recently filed a lawsuit in New York claiming she and a friend were subjected to inappropriate behavior during what was described as a drug-fuelled sex romp in March at The Ritz Carlton, according to Fox Sports.
Cecora also claims that De La Hoya prevented her from leaving the hotel room which caused her distress and is suing for assault, battery, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
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"It would be nice to start with an apology, Oscar needs to acknowledge his mistake. He knows he did something wrong," Cecora told reporters outside Manhattan supreme court.
The 38-year-old, who is married, has denied Cecora's claims insisting that their encounter was planned and consensual.
De La Hoya's attorney, Judd Burstein, called the suit "frivolous" and claims it is filled with "salacious" allegations, according to the New York Post.
"'I'm embarrassed to have to argue this case," Burstein said.
The attorney also described Cecora as "a prostitute and a grifter" who is lying in a bid to gain "15 minutes of fame."
According to Tony Evans, Cecora's lawyer, De La Hoya forced himself onto Cecora before ordering drugs to his room, and at one point allegedly dressed in women's clothing leaving Cecora intimidated and trapped in fear.
"It's the old Hollywood show business story...Find a girl who wants to be a model and say: "Oh you can come work for me"," Evans said.
"It's a man against a woman in a hotel room, [De La Hoya] was a professional boxer who's knocked out 34 people," he added.
This is not the first time that De La Hoya has been caught in a scandal, in 2007 a Siberian woman known as Milana Dravnel posted controversial pictures of him dressed in women's lingerie in an attempt to back up claims that he engaged in an affair with her.
Although his lawyers tried to deny that it was him, De La Hoya finally came clean and revealed that the pictures were of him.
De La Hoya's attorneys insist that he is now a changed man.
