EAST LANSING, Mich. — Attorneys representing former Michigan State football head coach Mel Tucker released new evidence regarding the sexual harassment allegation from activist and rape survivor Brenda Tracy.
The Law Firm of Foley & Lardner shared a letter to the Michigan State Board of Trustees and Interim President Woodruff on Thursday, claiming that they have evidence that undermines Tracy's accusation.
Tucker's 10-year, $95 million contract was recently terminated following an allegation that Tucker made sexually suggestive comments and admitted to masturbating during a phone call with Tracy.
Now, Tucker's lawyers are saying that this matter should have never been investigated at all, following their release of alleged text messages sent by Tracy.
The messages were part of a heavily redacted 106-page document. Many of the text excerpts in the document have limited or no context provided due to the redactions.
In these text messages, Tucker's lawyers highlight several conversations between Tracy and her friend, Ahlan Alvarado, who died earlier this year.
Tucker's lawyers allege that the text messages suggest that Tracy manipulated a key witness and only provided self-serving evidence to the university.
The text messages allegedly show that Tracy was also in a relationship with another married NCAA head coach, Damon Stoudamire, while she had a relationship with Tucker:
Jan. 15, 2022
Ms. Tracy: I haven’t even heard from Damon since Monday
Ms. Alvarado: He’ll pop up.
Ms. Tracy: For sure. He’s not going nowhere. Lol. He was supposed to find time to see me before the 20th
Ms. Tracy: Coach Tucker told me he loved me last night. It wasn’t weird tho. He made sure I knew it was about being a friend.
Ms. Alvarado: In other news lol. Coach Tucker isn’t going anywhere either.
Ms. Tracy: Def not lol. He went to some retreat for his birthday. Came back all zen... He’s one of those – in another life... I guess they talked about trauma and he said he thought about me and how amazing it is that i can speak about mine... He said I’m a brilliant human and too special for this world... Damon is so cute in his tight shirt and pants lol. I like seeing him on tv.
Tucker's lawyers allege that Tracy "went to extraordinary lengths to try to stop Ms. Tracy’s written communications with Ms. Alvarado from ever seeing the light of day."
The letter from Tucker's lawyers says that a new witnesses' sworn testimony alleges that "while Ms. Tracy’s supposed friend lay dying in a hospital, and even after her death, Ms. Tracy sought to sleep over at Ms. Alvarado’s house (in her room) and repeatedly asked Ms. Alvarado’s family for access to Ms. Alvarado’s phone and computers."
The shared text messages also show Tracy talking about how she had troubles with the IRS and how she was hoping that Tucker could finance a production for her after he signed his $95 million contract:
Nov. 26, 2021
Ms. Tracy: Tucker signed his contract. I can’t even wrap my brain around 95 million. Sheesh
Ms. Alvarado: I can't either.
Ms. Tracy: Can you imagine around 700k going into your account every month... Every month... Crazy
Ms. Alvarado: Nope, I need to 7k first... Soon!!!
Ms. Tracy: Lol... We're gonna make it happen... I'm gonna ask him to finance the doc part of it... He'll do it
Ms. Alvarado: He for sure will.
Ms. Tracy: And sounds like I'll get booked this spring too so that's more money
Dec. 14, 2021
Ms. Tracy: Tucker is going to make some calls about the production companies tomorrow... I want to see if we can film after my face lift... I might have to move my body surgery which is fine. My priority is face lift and filming my story so we can make this shmoney.
Dec. 19, 2022
Ms. Tracy: So apparently I was supposed to be paying down 2018 taxes and not staying caught up on the other years bc now the IRS wants their money. I have to come up with 25k over the next 6 weeks... No one told me to pay on the earliest year first. I guess I should have known tho. What a f------ mess. It doesn’t even matter now what I can pay a month or anything... Having the IRS after me in a way that is known publicly surely won't help my lawsuit.
The conclusion of Tucker's lawyers is that Tracy manipulated Michigan State University for her own financial gain, citing several of the text messages they provided.
Tucker was due to be at a hearing at Michigan State University on Thursday, Oct. 5 regarding the sexual harassment complaint, but his lawyers say he is not attending due to "a serious medical condition."
The hearing is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 5 and Friday, Oct. 6 and is not open to the public.
You can read the entire letter from Tucker's attorneys here:
The school said they are parting ways with Tucker for "his admitted and undisputed behaviors which have brought public disrespect, contempt and ridicule upon the university; and constitute a material breach of his agreement, and moral turpitude."
Brenda Tracy has only made one public comment since the story broke in early September, in response to a statement by Tucker:
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