“Baseless and scurrilous” – Civil suit accuses Oilers owner Daryl Katz of paying teenage ballerina Sage Humphries for sex

“Baseless and scurrilous” – Civil suit accuses Oilers owner Daryl Katz of paying teenage ballerina Sage Humphries for sex

Daryl Katz and Sage Humphries

A newly filed U.S civil suit claims that Edmonton Oilers owner Daryl Katz is accused of paying the teenage ballet dancer Sage Humphries $75,000 in exchange for sexual favors. The unproven allegations came in a response to a sexual abuse lawsuit by seven aspiring ballerinas in 2021. The third party counterclaimed that Daryl was in a sexual relationship with Sage when she was just an underage teenager. 

In the 2021 lawsuit, the charge was made against Mitchell Taylor Button, a dance teacher, and his wife Dusty Button who was once a core member of The Boston Ballet. The Canadian outlet reported that Sage and other ballerinas accused the couple of sexual accusations. In turn, the couple filed a third-party counterclaim, earlier this month.

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Daryl Katz is accused to be involved in a sexual exchange with a teenager

Daryl Katz accused of paying for teenage sex
Daryl Katz accused of paying for teenage sex

The counterclaim alleged that the Buttons were in a consensual “throuple sexual relationship” with Sage Humphries when she was 18. But they simultaneously claimed that Daryl Katz and two other men had a sexual exchange with the ballerina when she was underage, as stated on cbc.ca.

The claim alleges, “Humphries was literally a child prostitute to a billionaire”, “and her mother assisted her in laundering the money she was paid and in trafficking her to Katz.” One exhibit from the court filing showed message exchanges between Daryl and Humphries when he was 53 and the latter 17.

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Daryl’s attorney Robert Klieger denied all accusations against his client calling them “baseless and scurrilous.” He told CBC that Daryl and Sage met only twice in 2016 that too for project discussions to pitch Daryl’s film company, Silver Pictures. Klieger noted, “They ultimately decided to pass on the project. But during the period of time that the project was under consideration, they asked for some help to keep with the funding of the project to keep it going. And that’s the $75,000 that is at issue”.

The lawyer from the ballerina’s side including Sage sued Taylor Button and his wife while dismissing their saying as a “meaningless sideshow”. The lawyer Sigrid McCawley further stated, “As is typical of abusers facing serious litigation, the Buttons have filed counterclaims that distract from and distort the truth and weaponize the serious allegations of abuse that have been brought against them”.

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