New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. is countersuing a man who previously brought an assault/battery action against the NFL star, alleging the plaintiff in that case and his lawyer are liable for civil extortion.
Beckham’s Los Angeles Superior Court complaint seeks unspecified damages from Ishmael Temple and his attorney Emmanuel Nsahlai, who issued a written response.
“We believe this lawsuit may also be a scare tactic against myself and client from aggressive representation,” Nsahlai said. “Beckham and his camp sought to settle this lawsuit early. They asked for a demand. We tendered one pursuant to our evaluation. They countered at a much lower amount. And now they claim civil extortion. Totally unfounded.”
Nsahlai predicted Beckham’s suit will not be in the courts for long.
“We will see them in court and when their case is dismissed, will sue them for abuse of process and malicious prosecution,” Nsahlai said.
Beckham’s suit filed Friday says the 25-year-old player is “one of the most famous athletes in the country” and “presents an enticing target for shakedown artists.”
The Beckham suit alleges that Temple falsely claimed that two men who assaulted him at the athlete’s Beverly Hills home on Jan. 14 worked for the NFL player as part of his security team and caused Temple to incur $18,850 in medical damages for dental work.
Although Temple and Nsahlai acknowledged Beckham did not assault Temple, both men seek to have Beckham held financially responsible, the Beckham suit states.
Nsahlai sent a letter to Beckham lawyer Daniel Davillier seeking just under $1 million to settle the dispute — a demand later lowered to $225,000, according to Beckham’s court papers. Nsahlai said the amount was appropriate “given the celebrity of the defendant and his wealth, factors which are considered in awarding punitive damages,” the Beckham suit states.
Nsahlai also sent an email to Davillier on Feb. 9 in which he threatened to embarrass Beckham by serving him at a public event, the athlete’s countersuit alleges.
When the alleged attempts to obtain money from Beckham failed, Temple sued him on March 23, the complaint states.
On July 4, Nsahlai sent an email to another Beckham lawyer, Andrew Jablon, claiming to have evidence that the wide receiver offered $1,000 to “sleep with a girl from Arizona visiting L.A. known to my client,” calling the alleged offer “prostitution,” and that the Nsahlai and Temple had “evidence of drugs of the most prohibitive types readily available and consumed at (Beckham’s) parties,” according to the Beckham complaint.
Temple’s suit states that he and Beckham were once friends, dating back to the time the NFL star played for Louisiana State University.