Edmonton Oilers owner Daryl Katz is denying allegations made against him in a civil lawsuit claiming he paid an underage ballerina tens of thousands of dollars for sex.
Katie Strang of The Athletic reported on Thursday that Katz was named as a third-party defendant in a civil lawsuit claiming the Oilers owner paid in excess of $75,000 to a teenage ballerina in exchange for sexual services.
The civil suit, which was filed earlier in July in Nevada on behalf of several ballerinas, according to Strang, alleges the young dancers were sexually abused by dance teacher Mitchell Taylor Button and his wife, Dusty Button. The latter was a popular ballerina and former principal member of the Boston Ballet.
The Buttons filed a counterclaim shortly after, saying both Mitchell and Dusty were in a consensual "throuple" relationship with plaintiff Sage Humphries which didn't start until she turned 18. Katz, however, is listed in the counterclaim as one of three "much older men" to allegedly have been involved in sexual relations with Humphries when she was underage.
“Billionaire Daryl Allan Katz paid Sage at least $75,000.00 for her sexual favors while she remained underage. Humphries was literally a child prostitute to a billionaire, and her mother assisted her in laundering the money she was paid and in trafficking her to Katz,” part of the claim reads, per the Edmonton Journal.
The Buttons included photos of alleged texts between Katz and Humphries in which the billionaire Oilers owner indicated he would send Humphries money in two separate installments of $50,000 and $25,000. In the alleged messages attributed to Katz, he repeatedly stressed how the relationship needed to remain secret.