Celebrity boxer/Youtuber Jake Paul has responded to a sexual assault allegation made by fellow social media denizen Jessica Paradise.
On Friday, Paradise, known for her presence on TikTok, posted a video online alleging that Paul, 24, had sexually assaulted her during an encounter at his home in 2019. The accusation comes just as Paul’s boxing career has begun take off, though he has fought solely with fellow celebs and “influencers” thus far.
The release of the video comes as Jake Paul is expected to headline a Triller boxing card this weekend against former Bellator and ONE Championship welterweight champ Ben Askren. It’s a match-up that many expect to be Paul’s biggest challenge to date. It has also sparked the old “boxing vs. MMA” debate, though even being charitable, Askren was never a great striker.
A more serious story took flight when Paradise’s accusations began making the rounds this week. With mainstream media attention focused on Paul like never before, he had little recourse but to respond. On Tuesday, Paul took to social media to issue his response — and state his intent to pursue a defamation of character case against Paradise. That statement is available in full below.
Sexual assault accusations aren’t something that I, or anyone should ever take lightly, but to be crystal clear, this claim made against me is 100% false.
Not only have I never had any sexual relationship with this individual, but this claim is solely a manufactured accusation and a blatant attempt for attention during a highly visible fight week. Make no mistake, I plan on pursuing this defamation of character case to the fullest extent of the law. There are irreparable damages from these types of accusations, and more importantly, false allegations of this nature diminish those who have truly been victims of misconduct.
Again, this individual is directly using the attention from her social media posts and video to promote her adult content website and Amazon shopping list — designed for people to buy her gifts. These allegations come conveniently for her, almost 2 years after the alleged incident and the week of my fight (of course).
At the time of her story I was in a relationship, and as someone who was a momma’s boy growing up, I respect women and mothers more than anything. I most certainly have never laid a finger on a girl without their consent.
I will fight this to the end to prove my innocence. This isn’t the first preposterous allegation made against me in my career and it likely won’t be the last. As someone who has lived in the spotlight since the age of 16, dealing with liars, fake news, and false accusations unfortunately is a part of this job. I won’t back down from it and years from now my character as an individual will show and shine through these dark moments.
According to Paradise, the Youtuber led her to a bedroom after the pair (initially consensually) began making out at his home. From there, however, things escalated, with Paul allegedly forcing her to perform oral sex. “When he got up, he undid his pants and grabbed my face and started, um, f*cking my face,” she said at one point in her video.
“Sex is very special and very important to me. Normally, everybody respects me when I don’t want to do sexual things, so I thought that it was fine if I went in his room,” Paradise stated during the 20 minute video detailing the encounter. “I thought it would be fine to kiss him, because I thought he would stop if I didn’t want to do anything else.”
Paradise added that she did not come forward sooner due to having signed a non-disclosure agreement prior to entering Paul’s home, where he also records content for social media. There is no indication as to whether she is pursuing criminal charges against Jake Paul.
Paul remains scheduled to face Ben Askren at the top of Triller Fight Club’s card this Saturday, April 17, live on PPV. The promotion did not respond to a request for comment regarding the allegation.
