In January of 2015, James Hill and Kevin Biegel sued New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis, claiming the New Orleans Saints player had made an “abusive and discriminatory” sexual advance on Hill, an executive producer at the production company Antebellums.
Both the producers and the New York Times had reported on the lawsuit, but the plaintiffs filed a countersuit in April of that year, alleging the Times had defamed the producers, including Hill, who were trying to get a restraining order against Davis and the Pelicans player.
In a lawsuit filed in May, Biegel’s attorneys claimed that the Times, as a defendant, was “obstructing” the plaintiffs’ lawsuit against Davis.
The lawsuit was later dismissed, but it sparked a firestorm of attention from both sides of the political spectrum.
While some people took to Twitter to express their support for Biegel and Hill, others were skeptical that the two producers had actually been harmed by the lawsuit.
It’s a lot to process, and I don’t want to lose a good guy.
— Jon Stewart (@jonstweets) July 6, 2021 In July of 2020, Hill was fired by the New England Patriots after his team had the No. 1 pick in the draft.
Biegel filed a similar lawsuit against the Patriots, saying that the team’s owners, Tom Brady and Robert Kraft, “engaged in a scheme to interfere with the plaintiffs legal proceeding in New England and, in the process, deprived plaintiffs of the rights protected by the First Amendment.”
He was later fired by ESPN after he refused to sign a new contract.
Hill later became a regular contributor on SportsCenter.
The case was ultimately settled out of court.
Bessler and Hill said they were inspired by the work of former NFL player Adrian Peterson, who has become an outspoken advocate against domestic violence and other sexual assault in the NFL.
He also said that the NFL had to take a stand against sexual assault, a charge that the league has repeatedly refuted.
Hill said in the court papers that the way the league handled the situation was wrong and that his former colleagues were trying “to silence me.”
“This is not a fight between a guy who is an athlete and a guy that is an activist,” he said.
“This has been an anti-man agenda.”
Biegel, who had also worked as a producer for the New Jersey Nets, told ESPN that he had been looking for a producer who would help him deal with his wife, who suffers from a degenerative disease.
“I’ve had some very difficult times over the years, but I have never felt so much pressure,” Biegel said.
He said that in a year where there was a lot of controversy around domestic violence, there were also a lot less calls to speak out against sexual harassment.
“A lot of people don’t understand what I feel like I’m doing and they just see me as a man who has been bullied,” he added.
“But I’m not a man bullied.”
Biggs and Hill have a daughter together.
In 2017, Biggs filed a civil suit against the NFL for failing to take action on the allegations of sexual harassment against former Minnesota Vikings defensive end Adrian Peterson.
Biggs accused the league of covering up his allegations of Peterson, whom he alleged assaulted him in 2014.
The NFL initially declined to take any action against the former Vikings defensive tackle, but in December, it agreed to a settlement with Biggs.
The suit also alleged that Peterson and the Vikings had engaged in a pattern of harassment.
Biggs lawyers argued that the settlement would help the two families get back on track, though the NFL did not agree.
Hill and Biggs have two sons, Eli and Anthony, who live in the Los Angeles area.
“As a producer, I’ve had to deal with the reality of how many women and men will say, ‘You know what?
I’ve never had a guy like that ever say anything to me,'” Biggs said.
Hill, in his defense, said that he felt pressured by ESPN and the NFL to speak up about sexual assault allegations against Peterson and that he did so.
“It was a real challenge,” Hill said.
