Jonathan Barnett: Gareth Bale’s former agent denies ‘sex slave’ claims in full
The British football super-agent who negotiated Gareth Bale’s world record transfer to Real Madrid, Jonathan Barnett, has denied any wrongdoing after a woman alleged he kept her as a “sex slave” and threatened to kill her.
Barnett, 76, is the subject of a range of serious allegations made by an Australian woman in a US court filing last month relating to a six-year period between July 2017 and November 2023.
They include that the founder of agency Stellar “forced me to work in servitude to him”, used “threats to harm me and my children”, and “exerted control over my life as his sex slave”.
Barnett’s response, filed yesterday, rejects all claims and argued that the woman had “no difficulty terminating the relationship after I refused to pay her the additional amounts she demanded from me”.
“Plaintiff’s allegation that I threatened the lives of Plaintiff and her children is false and absurd,” he added.
“Plaintiff’s suggestion that she was controlled by me and unable to leave the relationship is preposterous. Plaintiff could have voluntarily terminated our relationship at any point.”
How Barnett became a top football agent
Barnett also denied claims from the woman that he kept footage of her “engaging in humiliating acts and self-harm”.
He is also seeking to have the case dismissed in the US, arguing that he never met nor knowingly sent communications to the woman when she was there.
Barnett was one of football’s most influential agents until his retirement, with a client list that included Bale, Jack Grealish, Ashley Cole and Peter Crouch.
Transfers he negotiated involving Bale and Grealish both set new British records.
Earlier in his career he also worked with cricketers Brian Lara, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis as well as boxer Lennox Lewis.
He sold his agency, Stellar, to ICM Partners. It was later acquired by entertainment giant Creative Artists Agency.