A Columbia University student has accused former NFL defensive end Marcellus Wiley of rape while she was at the Ivy League school in 1994, according to a lawsuit obtained by the New York Post.
The victim’s lawsuit, which was filed in New York Supreme Court under the Adult Survivors Act, claims Wiley, the 48-year-old former ESPN personality, attacked her in the fall of that year while he was starring as Columbia’s running back during his sophomore season.
She stated that Wiley had forced himself on her in a freshman dorm room, did not care for her objections to his actions and took her virginity.
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Marcellus Wiley, #75 of the Dallas Cowboys, looks on during a NFL football game against the Washington Redskin on Sept. 27, 2004 at FedExField in Landover, Maryland. (Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
The victim claims that she would later attempt suicide because of the traumatic experience.
“[Wiley’s] actions were intentionally designed to cause plaintiff severe emotional distress or were taken with reckless disregard of the significant and/or substantial probability of causing plaintiff severe emotional distress,” the lawsuit says, per The Post.
The victim, a sociologist and Ivy League professor who has a focus on race and culture, said she and Wiley had been friends when he invited himself to her dorm room. He told her he wanted to listen to music and eat dinner.
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“Ain’t nobody tryna have sex with no virgin! Don’t worry, I got you. Just coming to hang out while I eat. I don’t even have condoms on me,” the victim claims Wiley told her.
Documents state that Wiley forcefully ripped off the girl’s clothes and “forced her facedown onto the mattress.” Wiley allegedly raped the girl multiple times, and she feared for her life during the incident. At one point, she allegedly tried to escape, but Wiley verbally threatened her before physically putting her back on the bed.
The victim went to Columbia administrators with her complaint about Wiley, where the lawsuit states they had “fondness” for him. The victim says the complaint was thrown out to protect Wiley’s budding professional career, with Wiley himself being shown the complaint by one of the administrators, saying he “just disagreed that it’s rape.”
Marcellus Wiley attends the 2023 Children’s Resilience in Film Awards at Paramount Pictures Studios on Oct. 3, 2023 in Los Angeles. (Araya Doheny/Getty Images for Shine Global Inc)
The lawsuit also claims that late residential dean Kathleen McDermott accused the victim of not understanding the situation because she was born on the African island of Cabo Verde and, therefore, had not been raped because “people from different cultures interpret things differently.”
Wiley, a Compton, California, native, was placed on academic probation during the 1995 spring semester and ordered to complete it back home. However, he remained a member of the Lions’ football team, eventually switching over to defensive end his junior season, when he would quickly become one of the best pass rushers in the country, which led to a fruitful NFL career.
Meanwhile, the victim claims that she and the friend who encouraged the assault report being brought to the school were harassed for months with phone calls.
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The victim would later attempt suicide during mandatory suicide, the lawsuit states.
“Plaintiff was admitted to a locked hospital ward for two weeks before being released,” documents read, per The Post.
When they both returned to campus, the victim stated that she and Wiley had shared classes together, considering he was also a sociology major. However, the victim also was not alone in her sexual assault stories regarding Wiley.
Columbia’s Take Back the Night chapter, which is an organization aimed at ending sexual, relationship and domestic violence, saw the victim become an active member when she learned that other women had shared stories about assault from Wiley.
TV personality Marcellus Wiley attends the Homeless Not Toothless Hollywood Event at The Beverly Hilton on April 22, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California. (Paul Archuleta/Getty Images)
The lawsuit says one woman claimed Wiley raped her, and she took it to Columbia’s athletics director at the time. However, they tried to bury the alleged incident until after the Lions faced Ivy League-rival Princeton.
Wiley did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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Wiley went on to be drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the second round of the 1997 NFL Draft, when he would go on to play 10 NFL seasons with the San Diego Chargers, Dallas Cowboys and Jacksonville Jaguars as well. He totaled 44 sacks and 322 combined tackles over 147 games.
