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Sarah Barshop
Multiple Authors
LOS ANGELES — A woman in Los Angeles has filed a civil lawsuit against Puka Nacua alleging the Rams wide receiver made an “unprovoked antisemitic statement” and later bit her on the shoulder.
The lawsuit cites gender violence, assault and battery and negligence.
The plaintiff, Madison Atiabi, alleged the events happened on New Year’s Eve in Century City. In the court document obtained by ESPN, Atiabi said Nacua said, “f— all the Jews,” and that she “immediately felt uncomfortable and emotionally distressed” because of her Jewish faith.
Later in the lawsuit, Atiabi said she was in a car with Nacua when he “forcibly” bit her on the left shoulder, “leaving a circular imprint of his teeth on her body.” The lawsuit also alleges Nacua bit her friend’s thumb in the car “with such force that her companion screamed in acute pain.”
The woman filed for a temporary restraining order, but that request was denied, according to multiple reports. A hearing is scheduled for April 14, per the reports.
The news of the lawsuit was first reported by TMZ. Nacua’s attorney, Levi McCathern, told the Los Angeles Times that Nacua denies the allegations that he made an antisemitic comment “in the strongest possible terms.” He also described Nacua biting Atiabi’s shoulder as “horseplay.”
“Our office was contacted with demands of millions of dollars in exchange for not publicizing these allegations,” McCathern told TMZ. “This is not a legitimate claim — it is blackmail.”
McCathern told TMZ that he will be filing a defamation lawsuit on behalf of Nacua against Atiabi “and pursuing all available legal remedies in response to these false and damaging statements.”
ESPN also has reached out to McCathern and Nacua’s agent for comment.
In December, Nacua issued a statement apologizing for performing a gesture on an internet livestream that was “antisemitic in nature and perpetuated harmful stereotypes against Jewish people.”
Nacua made the gesture on a livestream with two internet streamers, who suggested he perform the gesture as part of his next touchdown celebration. In the statement, Nacua said “at the time he had no idea” of the nature of the gesture, which has been associated with antisemitic themes.
At the time of the December incident, the Rams released a statement saying, “There is no place in this world for Antisemitism as well as other forms of prejudice or hostility toward the Jewish people and people of any religion, ethnicity, or race.”
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