Jody Johnson, an attorney for Deion, says that Pilar 'falsely assassinating' the former Dallas Cowboys cornerback's character 'in an effort to extort additional money' from him.
- January 19, 2012
AceShowbiz -
The divorce between Deion Sanders and estranged wife Pilar gets even messier by the day. After Pilar accused Deion of being an adulterer, narcissist and abuser, the former Dallas Cowboys cornerback hits back at the woman he had been married to for the past 12 years, claiming she tried to extort money from him.
"The actions of Ms. Sanders and her attorney are nothing more than an attempt to avoid a legally binding contract that she no longer likes," Jody Johnson, an attorney for the 44-year-old, told TMZ, "by falsely assassinating the character of Mr. Sanders in an effort to extort additional money from Mr. Sanders."
Deion filed for divorce from Pilar in December 2011. In a statement about the split, the NFL Network analyst said, "Pilar and I have decided to end our marriage and move on to the next phase of our individual lives with mutual respect. We are friends and our top priority has and will continue to be the well-being of our children."
Pilar, however, responded by bashing Deion in her divorce filing. According to the court documents obtained by TMZ, she claimed that the former NFL star "has been guilty of unkind, uncaring, insensitive, cruel and unusual treatment of [Pilar] ... as well as physical, mental and emotional abuse of [Pilar] and the parties' children."
Asking that the divorce be granted on grounds of "mental, emotional and physical abandonment," Pilar accused Deion of committing "numerous acts of adultery" on numerous occasions throughout the marriage. She also labeled her estranged husband "a bully", who "suffers from a narcissistic personality disorder" and "needs a full psychological evaluation."
Pilar additionally requested sole legal custody of their three children and said that Deion needs a parenting coach to be a better father. In his response to the attacks, Deion said through his lawyer, "Anyone who knows Mr. Sanders and observes him on a daily basis knows that he is a committed, ever-present father."
In the end, Deion's lawyer stated, "Mr. Sanders will not be intimidated by these shady tactics and remains committed to resolve this matter in a court of law as quickly and amicably as possible."
