After being accused of sexual assault, Canadian business magnate and philanthropist Daryl Katz made headlines. An alleged $75,000 payment to a teen ballet dancer in exchange for her private services was made by Daryl Katz, the billionaire owner of the Edmonton Oilers, according to a recently filed U.S. civil lawsuit.
The unproven allegations come in response to a sexual abuse lawsuit launched by seven aspiring ballerinas against Mitchell Taylor Button, a dance teacher, and his wife Dusty Button, once a principal member of The Boston Ballet.
Robert Klieger, the lawyer representing Katz, told CBC News that his client never had a sexual relationship with Humphries. But the pair did meet on two occasions in the spring of 2016 about a project that the 17-year-old was pitching to Katz’s film company, Silver Pictures.
Edmonton Oilers Daryl Katz Accused Of Paying Ballerina $ 75000: Civil Law Suit
The suit alleged that Katz propositioned Cipriani’s wife, model, and actress Greice Santo, during a Hawaii photo shoot, offering her $20,000 a day for sex. Katz allegedly wired Santo a total of $35,000, money she later donated to charity after rejecting the arrangement.
In 2017, R.J. Cipriani, a professional gambler, filed a defamation suit against G.F. Bunting+Co, a public relations crisis management firm representing Katz.
The third-party action doesn’t explain how or when police obtained the screenshots, but the time and battery levels displayed suggest the culprit accessed them on multiple occasions. The original civil suit filed by Humphries states that she handed over her iPhone and passwords to Taylor Button so that he might assist her in building a social media following.
To date, no responses have filled to the third-party motion. In a statement to CBC News, the lawyer representing Humphries and the other dancers dismissed the action as a “meaningless sideshow.”
Who Is Edmonton Oilers Daryl Katz?
Daryl Allan Katz is the founder and chairman of the Katz Group of Companies, one of Canada’s largest privately-owned firms interested in developing real estate, sports & entertainment, and pharmacies. The Katz Group owns the Edmonton Oilers, which also oversaw the construction of Rogers Place and the Ice District.
Before joining his business, the Canadian businessman was a former lawyer and resided in Edmonton.
The business was born in 1961 to his parents in Edmonton, Alberta.
Kartz father was a pharmacist who founded Value Drug Mart in Edmonton in the 1970s.
In 1992, they launched the first Medicine Shoppe location, and Katz established the Katz Group of Companies to serve as the umbrella organization for the group.
In conjunction with his father, Katz spent $300,000 to acquire the Canadian rights to the U.S.-based Medicine Shoppe drugstore company, which operated more than 1,000 locations across the nation in 1991.
Where Is Daryl Katz Now?
The lawsuit makes several unsubstantiated allegations about Katz, Humphries, and her family.
Katz’s defense attorney refuted the charges.
A third-party complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Nevada alleged that millionaire Canadian Daryl Katz was accused to be in a sexual relationship with ballerina Sage Humphries when she was a minor.
Among the exhibits attached to the filing are screenshots of texts allegedly exchanged between Humphries and Katz and an iPhone contact under the billionaire’s name, listing a number with a 780 area code, most commonly associated with the Edmonton area.
Humphries was a child prostitute to a billionaire,” the claim says, “and her mother assisted her in laundering the money, was paid, and trafficking to Katz.