O.J. Simpson has sued a Las Vegas casino for defamation of character after it banned him from the premises for allegedly behaving in a drunken, disruptive manner, says The Manistee News-Advocate.
The suit was filed by Simpson's attorney Malcolm LaVergne against Nevada Property 1 LLC, corporate owner of the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Simpson accuses employees of the bar of damaging his reputation by telling the media he was removed from the casino.
Simpson alleges that after spending several hours in a lounge and steakhouse on the casino's property in 2017, he was handed a note by a security guard as they left the premises. The note told him never to return to the casino again, barring him from the property, but gave no reason why.
Unnamed employees for the Cosmopolitan spoke to celebrity gossip website TMZ in 2017, where they accused Simpson of starting arguments at the casino's Clique bar, where he allegedly behaved badly after getting drunk. According to them, security was called to remove him from the property after he began shattering glasses, and he was subsequently banned from the property. TMZ has not been named in the lawsuit.
Simpson denied the article's accusations of belligerence, smashing barware and committing property damage in the suit.
The defamation suit goes on to say that, after television reports about the Cosmopolitan incident hit the media, a parole officer arrived at Simpson's house to administer drug and alcohol tests. The tests the officer administered came back clean according to the suit, proving he had not violated his probation "and ultimately determined that the Cosmopolitan's assertions against Simpson were false." He also asserted that he was a "model" parolee.
Simpson was on parole for a 2008 conviction. He had been accused of leading a group of five armed men who were attending the same wedding that he was to a hotel room to demand back a number of items belonging to him which memorabilia collectors were holding for sale in a Las Vegas hotel room.
An armed confrontation followed, during which the men Simpson had hired took back his items as well as autographed Pete Rose baseballs and Joe Montana lithographs. Simpson was accused of conspiracy to commit a crime, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, conspiracy to commit robbery and burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon.
He was subsequently sentenced to prison for 9 to 33 years. Simpson was paroled in 2017, and his sentence may be ended before 2022 if he continues to accumulate good behavior credits.
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