LSU Coach Ed Orgeron Pens Letter Declining to Appear in Court

Orgeron maintains he never spoke with Scott directly, writes he spoke with man who represented Scott at the time

LSU coach Ed Orgeron released a letter on Tuesday, declining to appear in court in regards to the Gloria Scott sexual harrasment claim back in 2017 against former running back Derrius Guice. 

The Tigers coach was formally invited to appear before the Louisiana Senate committee to address Scott's claims that she had a conversation with Orgeron after the reported assault took place. Orgeron came out last week and stated that he "truthfully doesn't recall" having a conversation with Scott. 

The letter was first obtained by Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellenger via school record. Here's Orgeron's full letter to the senate committee:

#LSU’s Ed Orgeron has sent this statement to a Louisiana Senate committee regarding Gloria Scott-Guice, obtained by @SInow via school record.

He will not appear before the committee, which is voluntary, choosing instead to put in writing his direct knowledge of the situation. pic.twitter.com/IpHeOIcavl

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) April 6, 2021

In the letter, Orgeron maintains that he doesn't recall speaking to Scott directly but did say he spoke with a man who represented Scott at the time. Orgeron learned this week that a man, Cleavon Williams, who represented Scott at the time, demanded money on behalf of Ms. Scott.

The Advocate's Brooks Kubena reported that Williams does not remember having a conversation with Orgeron. 

"The gentleman said something to the effect that Ms. Scott did not want an apology, and that instead she requested that Mr. Guice not be able to play in the Citrus Bowl," Orgeron wrote. "The gentleman refused to put Ms. Scott on the phone unless I agreed to the terms up front. I told the gentleman that I would have to get back to him. The conversation ended, as I was not prepared to suspend a student-athlete for a game without discussion with the University and obtaining more thorough information."

The neverending saga stemming from the 2017 incident took another turn on Monday when LSU released audio recordings of a phone conversation between LSU officials and Williams, who represented Scott at the time of the incident, confirming what Orgeron wrote in his letter and demanding LSU pay $100,000 on Scott's behalf.

Scott, who worked part time at the Mercedes Benz Superdome, testified that Guice made vulgar comments to her while working at the Louisiana High School Championships in December of 2017. She recalled during the alleged conversation with Orgeron, that he asked her to "forgive" Guice for what he'd done and that he was a "troubled child."

In the Husch Blackwell report, Orgeron told investigators that he never had “any direct communication with the alleged victim.”