Comedian Jeff Ross has launched a defamation suit against a woman accusing him of having a relationship with her in the late 1990s when she was underage.
According to the papers, filed in New York on Monday and obtained by Page Six, Ross, 55, admits he knew Jessica Radtke from a New York comedy club. He describes a consensual relationship with her that took place in 2002 when she was of legal age.
Ross’ filing paints Radtke’s accusations of his sexual relationship when she was a minor — outlined in August in a piece by Vulture — as “completely false.” (Vulture is named in the filing, which says the outlet “failed to properly vet Radtke or the veracity of her outrageous and bizarre accusations.”)
The suit claims Radtke has been attempting to discredit Ross since 2017, and that the story of their relationship chronicled since late 2019 on a Facebook page Radtke started, “Iwas15hewas33,” is an outgrowth of that campaign.
Ross says Radtke “made the preposterous claim that she was Ross’s ‘date’ at a number of high-profile public events, including celebrity roasts, that were attended by thousands of people,” adding, “to make her false allegations as salacious as possible, Radtke also falsely accused Ross of frequently having unprotected sex with her while she was underage and claimed Ross proposed to marry her.”
The filing suggests that Ross has multiple witnesses who corroborate he did not start dating Radtke until she was 18.
Echoing his initial statement on the accusations from June, Ross says in the suit that “Radtke is a habitual accuser who has lied about criminal conduct on multiple occasions. Indeed, Radtke has repeatedly falsely accused her family members and others of crimes.”
Ross is seeking a gag injunction against “Radtke and/or her agents, employees, and those acting in concert with her,” damages and court costs.