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Yesterday I received an email from TMZ's public relations department. As a matter of habit, I deleted it. I'm not into celebrity gossip and don't feel the need to whisper about it before knowing the facts. Unfortunately this one actually relates to the New York Jets and defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman.
The alleged incident took place at Pazzo Pazzo restaurant in Morristown New Jersey. The women in question claims that after she turned down the advances of Dennis Thurman, he struck her across the face with a slap.
Jessie Steinberg, 28, the woman in question confirmed that she was OK. However when the manager of the restaurant was contacted for a comment by the NYDN, he denied the allegation:
"The allegations are actually false. They had a conversation. I guess the lady, she was kind of drunk,
"She was pretty much the crazy person and accused him of slapping her when there were 13 witnesses including my bartender,"
If you remember, back in 2010 Dennis Thurman was one of the members of the Jets organization accused of subjecting a female reporter to sexist locker-room conduct. We're talking about Mexican television host and former Miss Universe Ines Sainz who reported being blocked by players and staff when she tried to leave, having catcalls and wolf-whistles sent in her direction and having players purposely throwing the ball in her direction to give receivers a reason to get close.
Rex Ryan decided to open his press conference in reference to the recent incident by stating:
Rex: "Dennis Thurman I trust, I respect. I love Dennis Thurman." #nyj
— Seth Walder (@SethWalderNYDN) May 17, 2014
Rex: "It’s an honor to know Dennis. He’s a great person." #nyj
— Seth Walder (@SethWalderNYDN) May 17, 2014
Rex: "The guy that I know, wouldn’t put his hands on anybody, let alone a woman." #nyj
— Seth Walder (@SethWalderNYDN) May 17, 2014
This will be investigated, we'll keep you up to date on any new developments. However at the moment we seem to have one woman's word against a lot of witnesses. I'm not saying it didn't happen, but at the moment it's all alleged and I'm sure the truth with come out in due course.