5 women join suit against Katina Powell

Five women say in a lawsuit that they were falsely accused of prostituting themselves to University of Louisville basketball players and recruits by Katina Powell in her book, "Breaking Cardinal Rules: Basketball and the Escort Queen," which launched a national scandal.

The complaints of Precious Burnley, Dolly Bolden, Shinita Martin, Jemiah Nash and Marquease Richardson have been added to a lawsuit against Powell, co-author Dick Cady and the Indianapolis Business Journal Publishing, which produced Powell's book.

In the suit, the five women claim they never were paid to have sex with any athletes and have suffered "severe emotional distress" as a result of the book and Powell referencing them during television talk show appearances. The women also claim in the suit that their photographs or likenesses were included in the book without their permission.

Powell claims in the book that former U of L basketball staffer Andre McGee paid her to provide escorts to strip for players and recruits. McGee, who has resigned his position as an assistant at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, has said the allegations are false.

Patricia Keiffner, publisher of IBJ Book Publishing, and Cady declined to comment Monday.

The women's complaints were added to an existing lawsuit filed last month in Jefferson Circuit Court by Kyle Nicole Hornback, a 19-year-old student who said the scandal tarnishes the university and reduces the value of her education.

Hornback's attorney, Nader George Shunnarah, is also seeking to have the suit designated as a class action on behalf of all U of L students and three more students were added to the complaint Monday.

J. Andrew White and Nader Shunnarah, attorneys for the five women, said one of their clients has never been a dancer and the other four danced but didn't have sex for money. And only three of the four who have danced have been to U of L's campus, the attorneys said.

"If they received any money, it may have been from the students or recruits," Shunnarah said. "It wasn't from Powell. They never met Andre McGee. There was no mention of Coach Pitino."

“'It would seem that a jury will ultimately decide whether Ms. Powell defamed these gratuitous nude dancers," Powell's attorney, Larry Wilder, said in a text message.

The women, who didn't want to discuss the book or lawsuit, have been ridiculed on social media, their attorneys said.

"They've been made fun of to their face," White said. "It's been very embarrassing - a nightmare. And they didn't do anything."

First Amendment expert Jon Fleischaker, who represents the Kentucky Press Association and The Courier-Journal, has said the student's complaint was meritless.But on Monday he said the new complaint could be a real threat.

"I would be very concerned if they said something about these five young women that isn't true," he said. "That's an allegation of an illegal act and if it's not true, it's defamatory.

"It's a whole new ballgame."

The suit asks that all profits from the book be placed with a receiver in the Jefferson Circuit Court Clerk's office while the case is pending.

Reporter Beth Warren can be reached at (502) 582-7164 or bwarren@courier-journal.com