Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer files defamation lawsuit against The Athletic

Trevor Bauer is suing The Athletic and its former reporter, Molly Knight, for defamation. 

The Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher is accusing the sports media outlet and Knight of “creating and spreading the false narrative” that he fractured a woman’s skull during sex. Bauer announced the lawsuit in a tweet on Tuesday with a link to the 26-page complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. 

“Today I filed a defamation lawsuit against The Athletic and its former MLB reporter Molly Knight in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles for knowingly publishing false information,” Bauer tweeted.

“We are aware of legal action taken by Trevor Bauer,” The Athletic spokesperson Taylor Patterson told the Associated Press in an email. “We’re confident in our reporting and plan to defend against the claim.”

The defamation suit comes more than a month after Los Angeles prosecutors chose to not charge Bauer over sexual assault allegations he faced last year. A judge in the California Superior Court also denied the accuser’s request for a restraining order. 

Today I filed a defamation lawsuit against The Athletic and its former MLB reporter Molly Knight in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles for knowingly publishing false information. You can read the complaint here: https://t.co/2GXRxxQpEG

— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) March 29, 2022

After the allegations last summer, Bauer was put on administrative leave under Major League Baseball’s joint domestic violence and sexual assault policy with the players union. The leave has been extended multiple times, including during spring training, and currently runs through April 16. 

The Athletic reported last summer that the woman accusing Bauer showed signs of a skull fracture. But Bauer’s lawsuit claims The Athletic had access to a CT scan that shows the opposite. 

“There was no basis for that assertion because the complainant’s own medical records — which The Athletic possessed — showed that she had no such fracture,” the lawsuit reads. “Nonetheless, consistent with their prior and subsequent expressions of animus toward Mr. Bauer, The Athletic and Ms. Knight publicized that false attack.”

The Athletic isn’t the first media organization Bauer has sued.

Earlier this month, Bauer filed a lawsuit against Deadspin’s parent company G/O Media as well as Deadspin managing editor Chris Baud in a federal court in Manhattan. The former Indians and Reds pitcher — well known prior to the allegations for his provocative social media personality and passion for pitching mechanics —  is also alleging that Deadspin defamed him when reporting that a CT scan showed a fracture. 

Bauer won the Cy Young Award with the Reds in 2020 and was similarly excellent with the Dodgers in the first half of 2021 before he was put on administrative leave. Following the 2020 season, he signed a $102 million contract over three years with the Dodgers. He is being paid while on leave.

This article is based in part on wire service reports.