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brEAKING NEWS! HELLER: “STERLING GRAYSON TRIED TO RUIN MY LIFE”

Miami, Florida—NFA running back Grenville “GoGo” Heller, former star of the Miami Cyclones, has released a statement accusing pop phenom Sterling Grayson of fraud and conspiring to tarnish Heller’s reputation.

The fracas concerns accusations of domestic violence allegedly committed by Heller upon his fiancée, singer Gabrielle Burgess, who is known professionally as “Gabrielle Rose.” Back in May, police reported to a Miami address shared by Heller and Burgess after multiple noise complaints from neighbors, and found Burgess to have multiple bruises on her body.

At that time, it was made public that an anonymous tipster had sent photos to the Miami-Dade Police Department of Heller appearing to shove Burgess during a separate altercation.

Heller was taken into custody and was released on bail; Burgess refused to press charges.

Now, in a shocking turn of events, Heller claims that Sterling Grayson is the source of his legal woes.

Grayson is in a romantic relationship with Heller’s teammate, Cyclones defensive end Kaius Reinhart, and Heller alleges that Grayson instigated the accusations of abuse due to jealousy that Heller was more famous than Reinhart.

A strongly-worded statement by Heller claims that he was “framed” by Grayson, who used “his tremendous power and influence to punch down and beleaguer [Heller] with fake photographs and overblown allegations.” The photographs in question were fabricated by Grayson, according to Heller, who states that he has the sworn testimony of an independent authenticator confirming that the images showed “tampering.”

Within Heller’s press release is a statement from Burgess, who swears that the bruises noted by investigators were from dance rehearsal.

In damning testimony, Burgess accuses Grayson of “taking advantage of the fact that [she] was young and impressionable … [and] capitalizing on [her] friendship to sabotage someone who was getting attention instead of [his] boyfriend.”

Heller states that he is “shocked and saddened” by the turn of events, but feels that “with time, maybe [he] can forgive.”

The press release came hot on the heels of news that Heller was being released by the Miami Cyclones last week. Coach Larry Beausoleil confirmed that Heller and the Cyclones front office had “mutually agreed” to the split, which followed Heller’s most productive season ever.

“All that’s on my mind is taking a break,” Beausoleil, never one to mince words, said during the press conference confirming Heller’s separation.

“Until camps start later this summer. This team needs a break from off-field drama. We wish GoGo all the best wherever he lands. They will be lucky to get him. He’s a hell of a competitor.

No questions will be answered at this time. ”

Heller addressed the separation, saying he was “excited to see what God has in store.” In unrelated news, he also mentioned that he sustained an injury to his jaw during a pickup basketball game and won’t be able to entertain verbal interview requests for several weeks.

This publication made repeated attempts to reach out to Grayson’s team, but calls were not returned.

***

Gabi won’t answer the phone.

You aren’t a stupid person. In addition to being not-stupid, you are surrounded by the best legal team that money can buy and all the finest PR representation in the world.

You know that you shouldn’t be calling Gabi, because nothing good can come of it.

What if she’s screenshotting all the unanswered calls from your number, and she’s going to try and spin some ridiculous story that you want to manipulate her some more?

What if she did answer and recorded the conversation?

If your lawyers find out, they are going to lose their minds.

So why do you, Sterling “Not Stupid” Grayson, keep pulling up her contact and dialing? It’s a question that you can’t answer. Which is even more frustrating, because you never have the luxury of doing irrational things without a good reason.

After a day or two, the calls go straight to voicemail, meaning that she’s blocked you.

That hurts. More than the lies, more than the #SterlingGraysonIsCancelled hashtags, more than the scandalous state of being in which you are currently entrenched.

You took Gabi under your wing around the time of her debut, first as a favor to your label, and after that, because you genuinely like (liked?) her.

She reminds you of the little sibling you never had, inspiring a combination of affection and protectiveness that you haven’t really felt for another person before.

This is to say nothing of the fact that you’re worried sick about her.

No matter what GoGo has gaslit her into thinking, you know that he is treating her like shit.

You’ve seen her hollow eyes. The way she flinched under his hands at Mantel, the night the photos were taken.

You heard the way she sobbed when she told you about him getting arrested, the way she cried like her heart was broken.

The lawyer who’s working with you right now is the same guy that handled Kai’s little incident with the paparazzo in Crystal River.

Young for one of your lawyers—maybe about ten years older than you?

Extremely deferential, but with eyes like a predator.

He’s to-the-point, to the point that it’s almost off-putting.

“You definitely have a case against GoGo,” he tells you. “You say the word, and we sue him into next Sunday. He’s committed libel with the statement, and the man doesn’t know how to stop running his mouth, so we get him for slander while we’re at it. The kid with the camera from Mantel…”

“I paid him off,” you interrupt. “That can’t be a good look.”

“You paid him off to protect someone that you thought was a friend,” he corrects you. “In your line of work, that’s understandable. Commendable, even.”

“But you haven’t been able to locate the photographer?”

The lawyer frowns. It’s bothering you that you can’t remember his name. Your brain is like a Rolodex—you are very good with names, because you have to be. Why are you drawing a blank? It would be awful to ask him out-and-out at this point.

“The kid seems to have hung up his lens,” he says.

“The name he gave was an alias, which isn’t surprising.

But we traced the bank account you gave us, and it’s been closed.

We’d have to obtain a subpoena to get more information from the financial institution.

The firm has canvassed all the big media agencies in South Beach.

It’s not like LA, where there are hundreds upon hundreds of people doing this kind of business.

If he had any previous success at all, it wasn’t with them.

There’s no indication that he sold the photo that you let him take with his phone’s camera.

It’s like he disappeared off the face of the earth. ”

“Or GoGo got to him and made him a good deal.” Still bothered by the lawyer’s name (or lack thereof), you look out the window.

The office in your Nashville condo is small; you don’t do a lot of business there.

It’s your home base. You don’t like mixing contracts and lawyers with the four walls where you feel most comfortable.

But it happened anyway. Outside the window, the weather is gray and drizzly.

It seems like it’s been raining for days, which isn’t helping your mood.

Across from you, he unlocks his cell phone and scrolls quickly through something. There’s a privacy screen on the glass. Not that you would be looking, but you have absolutely no idea what he’s doing. His fingers fly over the keys.

“We don’t need him,” the lawyer says. “But I just made a note to have the PI team check the scenes in Tampa, Orlando, and West Palm. Even fewer photographers than Miami, but that also means they are easier to cross off the list. Anyway. As I was saying. You could sue GoGo, and you would definitely win. But I don’t think it’s the best play. ”

“Because of Kai,” you say flatly.

“Because he might be tempted to countersue Mister Reinhart for assault, yes. That’s part of it, and it would be opening up a messy can of worms that nobody wants to deal with.

But also because the damage is done, it’s pretty bad, and I think that a big, well-publicized court case would only make it worse.

GoGo’s narrative is that you are persecuting him.

Raining the full force of your legal power down on him isn’t exactly going to make you look better, even if the action is fully justified.

If anything, it might tarnish your public perception even more. ”

“I see,” is what you say. Bile rises in your throat, along with a litany of foul language. Like you always do in these situations, you wait for the worst of the nausea to subside and smile politely.

There’s a little more conversation, most of which concerns media strategy. Your team will handle that. At the close of the discussion, he rises and shakes your hand with a dry, firm grip.

“It’s always a pleasure, Mister Grayson,” he says. “Call me directly if you ever need anything. Ms. Mukherjee has my personal cell number.”

This is the part where you would normally thank him by name, but you don’t know it. You nod, holding the social smile, and walk him to the front door.

As soon as his car’s engine starts, you text Maeve and ask her what the lawyer’s name is.

You: Medium-height. Dark hair. Communicates with PR?

Maeve: His name is Stuart Kirkland, with Kirkland & Jurgens :)

Huh, you think. “Stuart,” like Stuart Little—should be easy enough to remember, because the guy kind of resembles a rodent.

***