Sports / Nhl
New York Rangers star Artemi Panarin and Madison Square Garden Sports reportedly reached financial settlements in August 2024 with a team employee who alleged Panarin sexually assaulted her in December 2023. The matter is now considered res...
Reports indicate the alleged sexual assault occurred in December 2023 during a Rangers road trip. The employee claimed Panarin took her phone at a post-game gathering and told her she would have to retrieve it from his hotel room. When she went to his room, Panarin allegedly pinned her down on the bed before she was able to push him off, retrieve her phone, and leave.
The allegation was formally reported to the team roughly three months later. According to sources cited by The Athletic, the employee disclosed the alleged assault while feeling unfairly treated during a separate team investigation into her sharing prescribed anti-anxiety medication with a player.
Following this disclosure, both Panarin and MSG Sports reached settlement agreements with the employee in August 2024. These agreements included non-disclosure clauses and stipulated no admission of wrongdoing by either Panarin or MSG Sports. The employee's tenure with the organization concluded upon reaching these agreements.
An independent investigation was conducted by an external law firm retained by MSG Sports. The NHL confirmed it was aware of this investigation and now deems the matter closed. The league and the Rangers have not commented on whether Panarin faced any internal discipline.
This incident occurs amidst Panarin's successful career; he was recently named the Rangers' Team MVP for the 2024-25 season. It also echoes a past controversy from February 2021, when Panarin took a leave of absence following claims in Russian media about a 2011 incident in Latvia, which the Rangers vehemently denied as a politically motivated "intimidation tactic."
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