A judge Monday awarded Odell Beckham Jr. more than $30,000 in a default judgment against a Hollywood events organizer and the latter’s attorney, both of whom the Cleveland Browns wide receiver accused of extortion.
Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Mark A. Young granted the 27-year-old athlete a total of $32,725 after finding that the defendants, Ishmael Temple and his lawyer, Emmanuel Nsahlai, had not responded to the complaint within the time prescribed by law.
The suit was filed in July 2018 in Los Angeles Superior Court and was transferred in April 2019 to Santa Monica Superior Court. Beckham alleged the defendants tried to extort a civil settlement from him in “baseless litigation” that Nsahlai and his firm, on Temple’s behalf, brought against the football player.
The pair threatened to tell the media that Beckham, then in the middle of well-publicized contract negotiations, had solicited prostitution unless he agreed to pay at least $225,000 to settle a lawsuit Temple filed against the NFL player, according to Beckham’s suit.
Temple’s lawsuit alleged a security guard working for Beckham assaulted him in January 2018 at the player’s Beverly Hills home when the plaintiff tried to retrieve a phone he had forgotten. Temple’s case was dismissed in March 2019 by Young due to failure to appear at scheduled court hearings, including two case management conferences.
Beckham was chosen by the New York Giants in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft. During week 12 of his first season, Beckham received national attention for a one-hand touchdown catch he made while falling backward in a game against the Dallas Cowboys. Many players and observers called it the greatest catch ever made.
The Giants traded Beckham to the Browns in March 2019.