Allegations and claims against Daryl Katz dropped

Last month the CBC reported that Edmonton Oilers owner Daryl Katz had been implicated in a sex scandal with an underage girl.

The then-53 year old Katz was alleged to have paid upwards of $75,000 for a sexual encounter with then-17 year old aspiring ballerina Sage Humphries. In text messages revealed by the CBC... well... I'll just say it... Katz comes off like a total creep.

I mean... just check these out:

Katz was implicated, but not the focus of an investigation into the alleged sexual charges against former Boston Ballet instructor Mitchell Taylor Button and his partner Dusty Button who are alleged to have run an underage sex ring of aspiring dancers.

The lawsuit makes a number of unsubstantiated allegations about Katz, Humphries, and her family.

"Humphries was literally a child prostitute to a billionaire," the claim says, "and her mother assisted her in laundering the money she was paid and in trafficking her to Katz."

Katz, through his lawyer Robert Klieger, has responded to the allegations and claims that he never had a sexual relationship with the teenaged Humphries. Instead, Katz claims that the $75,000 he sent to her was part of a film investment project that went nowhere.

“Sage had a business relationship with Mr. Katz and there was never any sexual relationship between them,” said Klieger to NBC News.

"One of Daryl's friends connected him with Sage because Sage was working with some producing partners on shopping a motion picture project that they had put together, basically, and it was based in the ballet world," said Klieger. 

"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," said Klieger to the CBC.

“Mr. Katz will vigorously defend his reputation against these baseless and scurrilous claims and will seek sanctions and damages against both the Buttons and their counsel for this frivolous and malicious attack on his character,” Klieger maintains.

Humphries has since dropped her claims against Katz after it was revealed in court that she misrepresented her age. She was, in fact, 18 years old at the time she met Katz. Still while Katz maintains that the pair had no sexual relationship and that their relationship was completely appropriate, despite the fact that she was of age.

In Nevada District Court on Wednesday, Marc Randazza – the attorney representing Mitchell Taylor Button and Dusty Button, who are defendants in a sexual assault lawsuit brought forward by Humphries – filed a motion to strike all references in a counterclaim to a sexual assault lawsuit that Humphries was “underage,” “a minor” or “17,” after Randazza’s team was provided with “reliable information” about Humphries’ age.

In the motion, Randazza wrote, “It is simply unfair to accuse Mr. Katz … of having been involved with Sage Humphries when she was 17 years old if there is any reliable evidence to the contrary.”

Randazza also filed on Wednesday a “notice of voluntary dismissal” of their claims against Katz. Sportsnet has reviewed copies of both the motion and the notice.

"I want to personally apologize for any harm the erroneous factual claims may have caused to Mr. Katz and his family," Randazza wrote in an email to Sportsnet. "We brought the claims in good faith, but the moment I doubted the ability to maintain them, I took corrective action and asked the court to strike all relevant references from the record.

"Nobody should repeat those allegations in any context without noting that they have been withdrawn and repudiated."