Le’Veon Bell has addressed the multi-million dollar verdict resulting from the rape civil lawsuit filed against him by a female family member.
According to reports from Times of India and TMZ, the former NFL player has is at the center of a bombshell scandal after his own cousin, Jada Bell, accused him of horrifying sexual abuse spanning nearly a decade! Jada’s lawsuit, filed in Franklin County, Ohio, in March 2024, claims the shocking abuse began when she was just six or seven years old.
According to court documents, Bell allegedly used slang like “fire” to instruct Jada during the disturbing assaults. The abuse reportedly continued until she turned 18.
Bell reportedly ignored the lawsuit entirely, failing to respond by October 2024. With no defense presented, a jury hit Bell with a staggering $25 million dollar default judgement verdict in Jada’s favor. Le’Veon Bell, who played the running back position for multiple NFL franchises such as the Pittsburgh Steelers, has fiercely denied all allegations. His lawyer, Thomas W. Shaffer, insists Bell was never properly served with the lawsuit and wasn’t even living in Ohio when the legal papers were delivered.
“My client adamantly denies any and all allegations that have been lodged against him,” Shaffer told TMZ. “Further, he was never served with a civil complaint or any documents.
Now, Bell’s team is scrambling to overturn the massive payout, claiming the case hasn’t been fairly fought in court.
“The default judgment granted was based upon violations of his Fifth Amendment rights of due process for failing to be served,” Shaffer said in the statement. “My client is in the process of filing a motion to open and reverse the default judgment because the narratives of the case have never been litigated.”
Bell has been vocal on social media, outright denying the validity of the allegations in a tweet he shared in response to a separate tweet announcing the multi-million dollar verdict in the case.
“They’ll do anything to try and get a dollar I tell ya…,” Bell wrote in the reply in the thread of the tweet.
News of the verdict in the lawsuit follow another scandal Bell was wrapped up in last year when a trans woman accused him of soliciting her for sex whilst tweeting hateful messages about the LGBTQ+ community. In another separate remark, Bell appeared to pin his political beliefs as a reason why he’s going through a tumultuous period with multiple individuals hurling allegations his way.
“Being a black man and a Trump supporter at the same time, so many ppl wanna attack me,” he wrote in another tweet. “Lol like why tho??? I just don’t get it .. it don’t matter tho, we STILL GOIN UP.”
Crucially, this is a civil case — not a criminal one — meaning Bell hasn’t been charged with any crimes related to Jada’s accusations. However, this scandal adds yet another dark chapter to Bell’s rocky post-NFL journey. After his high-profile contract dispute in 2018, Bell’s football career spiraled, bouncing between teams before he turned to boxing.
