Chris Gayle has denied all the allegations against him
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Leanne Russell, a sports massage therapist, has accused West Indian superstar Chris Gayle of exposing himself in front of her in the lead-up to the 2015 World Cup.
Speaking at the New South Wales Supreme Court, Russell also claimed that she saw the “top half of Chris’s penis”.
The incident took place on February 11, 2015 when Russell entered the changing rooms at the Drummoyne Oval in Sydney to get lunch.
Upon entering, she saw Gayle in a training shirt and towel, which he allegedly moved down.
“He said, ‘what are you looking for?’ I said, ‘a towel,’ he replied, ‘are you looking for this?’ and pulled his towel out and down I proceeded to shield my eyes and I said, ‘no,’and I exited the change room,” Russell told the court. “I saw the top half of his penis, apologies, and I therefore shielded my view and left the change room.”
Russell, who added that the incident lasted less than 10 seconds, revealed that batsman Dwayne Smith was also in the room when Gayle supposedly exposed himself. However, Russell said that Smith was looking away when the incident occurred.
After what she had been through, Russell told the court that she went to the stands, where she began “crying uncontrollably, I was crying like a child”.
“I was upset because of what Chris had done because we had known each other for 10 years and jokes of that nature…upset me greatly,” she added .
She then proceeded to say that the previous day, Smith had sent her a text message that contained the word “sexy” in it. Smith confirmed that he had sent the message to Russell.
When Barrister Matthew Collins QC asked her “did you react upon receiving that text message?”, Russell said: “I didn’t react, I completed the massage.”
Russell explained that she felt upset and uncomfortable following the incidents with Smith and Gayle.
“I felt that the players…had stated to gather and attack to try.. their luck,” she said. “It was very upsetting that the team I knew for so long would treat me that way.”
Gayle is suing Fairfax Media for writing nine articles that detail Russell’s allegations. The articles appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times in January last year.
The 38-year-old insists that the allegations against him are untrue and have “greatly injured” his business and personal reputation since it has led to “odium ridicule and contempt”.
This is not the first time Gayle has come under fire as during a sideline interview at the 2015/16 Big Bash League (BBL), the Jamaica native asked sports journalist Mel McLaughlin out for a drink and told her “don’t blush, baby”.