Former sports reporter drops sexual assault lawsuit against Sacramento Kings coach
A former local sports reporter has dropped her sexual assault lawsuit against Sacramento Kings coach Luke Walton, CBS Los Angeles reports. The attorney for Kelli Tennant filed paperwork Tuesday to dismiss the suit, and it was officially dropped Wednesday, according to court records cited by CBS L.A.
It's not clear why the suit was dropped, or if the two parties reached a settlement. "I remain 100% focused on coaching the Kings and will have no further comment," Walton said through a representative.
Tennant sued Walton in April and claimed that he sexually assaulted her at a hotel in 2014 while he worked as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers, according to CBS L.A.
"Out of nowhere he got on top of me and pinned me down to the bed and held my arms down with all of his weight while he kissed my neck and my face and my chest," Tennant told reporters at news conference in April. "And as I kept asking him to please stop and to get off, he laughed at me. And he continued to laugh at all of my pleas to get off and to stop."
"I thought he was going to rape me," she added.
Walton was dismissed by the Lakers and hired by the Kings before Tennant made her allegations. After Tennant came forward, the Kings said they would investigate the issue.
In August, the NBA and the Kings said "there was not a sufficient basis" to support Tennant's claims, CBS L.A. reports. Officials said Tennant "elected not to participate in the investigation," which included interviews with more than 20 people.
