7 more massage therapists accuse Ravens’ Justin Tucker of inappropriate sexual behavior - The Baltimore Banner

[Julie Scharper, Brenna Smith, Justin Fenton]

Content warning: This story contains graphic descriptions that may not be suitable for some readers.

The number of massage therapists accusing Ravens kicker Justin Tucker of sexually inappropriate behavior has now more than doubled.

Last month, six massage therapists at high-end spas said Tucker repeatedly exposed himself, brushed two of them with his exposed penis and in several cases left what appeared to be ejaculate on the massage table. Shortly after The Banner published its investigation, three more women came forward with similar allegations. Now, seven additional women are sharing their accounts, bringing the total to 16 women at eight Baltimore-area spas. Two spas have said his behavior was so egregious that he was banned from returning.

The seven new accusers include women who say Tucker acted inappropriately at some of the city’s most luxurious spas, including The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel and the Baltimore Spa & Salon at the Ritz-Carlton Residences, which has since closed and been replaced with a new spa.

Their allegations are largely similar to those of the women who came forward earlier, including that he had an erection for most of the massage, intentionally and repeatedly exposed his genitals and brushed some ofthe therapists’ thighs with his fingers. One of the seven new women said he left what appeared to be ejaculate on the massage table after his session.


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The women also provided similar details that The Banner had not previously reported. One said Tucker made intense eye contact throughout the massage while exposed, and others said he used his erect penis to move the sheet.

The 16 women all said Tucker’s actions occurred from 2012, his rookie year with the Ravens, to 2016.

Tucker’s representatives declined to comment in detail about the new allegations, instead pointing to a Jan. 30 statement Tucker posted on X in which he said he “did not act inappropriately at any point before, during or after a professional bodywork treatment session” and accused The Banner of engaging in “desperate tabloid fodder.”

Tucker’s attorneys, Thomas A. Clare and Steven J. Harrison of the firm Clare Locke, also denied that he had been banned from any spas and categorically rejected the women’s allegations. “Mr. Tucker has never behaved inappropriately during any massage therapy session, and certainly never in the manner described” by The Banner’s reporting, the lawyers said in a Jan. 28 letter.

This week,they also provided a sworn declaration from the owner of Baltimore Spa & Salon saying she never received complaints about him or suspected he had engaged in any misconduct. The therapistsfrom that spa said they did not report his behavior to their supervisors because they feared they would lose their jobs.


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The latest accusations come as the NFL has vowed to “look into” Tucker’s alleged misbehavior. The Ravens have said that they will “continue to monitor the situation.”

Meanwhile, the claimsagainst Tucker have swept across sports media, fueling an ongoing debate about his alleged behavior and speculation about his future with the Ravens.

As the chorus of allegations grows, it could threaten Tucker’s long reputation as a wholesome Renaissance man. The most accurate kicker in NFL history, Tucker is a devout Catholic who crosses himself before each kick, a classically trained opera singer and the spokesperson for the Royal Farms chain. Fans know him as a devoted husband and father whom they spot at grocery stores, sporting events and playgrounds around the region.

Ravens kicker Justin Tucker bows his head in prayer during a community event sponsored by the team in November. (Ulysses Muñoz/The Baltimore Banner)

“What’s troubling is the number of people who have come forward and accused him of sexual misconduct,” said Chris Rosica, chief executive officer and president of crisis communications and public relations firm Rosica Communications, which does not represent Tucker or the Ravens.

Rosica said Tucker’s lengthy statement on X did not express any culpability, “so it comes off as just strange to the average fan — or consumer, for that matter — when [16] individuals have come forward and accused him of this.”


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The women who shared their accounts most recently described feeling shock and anger, but also validation, when they read The Banner’s investigation and learned others had reported similar experiences with Tucker.

One of the women provided screenshots of text messages her friends had sent her after the first report.

“Women are coming out in droves. You weren’t the only one,” wrote one friend.

“I hope it gives you some reassurances that you weren’t alone,” wrote another.

The massage therapist, who asked to be referred to by the letter B. to protect her privacy, said she had taken her son out to lunch when she saw the story, and began sobbing in the restaurant. Still upset the next day, she had a panic attack and had to cancel the clients at the Baltimore County spa where she now works.


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Her encounter with Tucker came in 2013 when she was on contract at Prive Salon & Spa in Locust Point, which has since moved and no longer offers massage services.

Silo Point in Baltimore, the former location of Prive spa. (Jessica Gallagher / The Baltimore Banner)

B. said that she was initially excited to work on Tucker because she had hoped to specialize in sports massage. But her enthusiasm quickly turned to discomfort when she walked into the treatment room and saw him lying under the sheet, fully erect, she said.

B. said Tucker asked her to focus on his groin area and she grew increasingly uncomfortable as she noticed he was using his penis to move the sheet. He moved his arms off the massage table so that they brushed her thighs, she said.

He also yanked her hand toward his groin, she said, and she had to pull away.

“Everything in me was telling me to walk out of the room,” she said. “But ... I was fresh out of massage school and this was my first job.”


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Worried about the ramifications, B. said she did not report Tucker to spa owners. Prive’s owner confirmed that Tucker received a massage from B. and said she was unaware of the allegations.

Two of B.’s friends confirmed that B. had told them about her experience with Tucker more than a decade ago,soon after it occurred.

B. said it’s been troubling to see Tucker lionized over the past decade and especially to see him extol his Catholic faith.

“All I want is for him to be held accountable,” she said.

Massage therapists who came forward after The Banner published its initial investigation said they finally feel like it’s safe to speak out.


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“I regret not saying something before, but it’s scary,” said one woman, who asked to be identified as W. to protect her privacy. “I was thinking, ‘Oh my God, he’s a high-profile person. Are they going to believe me?‘”

W. said she massaged Tucker at the Four Seasons spa in late summer or early autumn 2016. Tucker repeatedly moved his hips to untuck the sheets and expose his erection, she said.

“His penis would be popping up and down under the sheet. It was making me pretty uncomfortable,” she recalled. “In 20 years [as a massage therapist], I had never seen that.”

The Four Seasons in Baltimore. (Jessica Gallagher / The Baltimore Banner)

When Tucker attempted to remove the sheet with his hands, she stopped the session and left the room, she said.

Soon after, W. said, she discovered a colleague had a similar unsettling experience with Tucker.

That colleague, who asked to be identified as Y. to protect her privacy, said Tucker had asked her to work on his lower abdominal muscles, then removed the sheet and exposed his erect penis while silently staring at her.

“I‘ve been doing this for 16 years, and I’ve never seen another man’s penis except for his” during a massage,she said.

W. and Y. said that they told a Four Seasons manager that they never again wanted to work on Tucker. The manager did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

When the pair confided in another Four Seasons colleague, that woman told them Tucker engaged in similar conduct with her at the Healing Path in Fells Point in 2014.

The massage therapist, who asked to be referred to as V. to protect her privacy, told The Banner that Tucker maintained an erection throughout the session and repeatedly exposed himself while making eye contact.

Another former Healing Path massage therapist, who spoke with The Banner for a previous story, confirmed V.‘s account, as did W. and Y. The owner of the Healing Path has declined to comment, citing privacy regulations governing health care facilities.

Two former massage therapists at the now-closed Baltimore Spa & Salon at the Ritz-Carlton Residences also said Tucker acted inappropriately with them in late 2013 and early 2014. Tucker and his then-fiancee lived in the Ritz-Carlton’s condominiums at the time, they said.

The Ritz-Carlton Residences in Baltimore. (Jessica Gallagher / The Baltimore Banner)

One woman, who asked to be identified as G. to protect her privacy, said she was so distraught after her experience with Tucker that she quit the spa soon after and took a job providing occupational health massages to fully clothed clients.

G., who said Tucker’s now-wife was also a client, recounted a similar experience to the others, with Tucker repeatedly pulling down the sheet to expose his erection. Eventually, she began using a more intense technique in the hopes that it would make him stop, she said. When it did not, she ended the massage early, she said.

“I was just trying to make the erection go away, make the whole thing go away,” she recalled.

G. said she didn’t tell her supervisor because she was afraid she would lose her job if she complained about a celebrity. And Tucker was scheduled with her again a few weeks later, she said.

G. said the cross and a Bible verse tattooed on Tucker’s back struck her as hypocritical given his behavior.

After the second session, in which G. said Tucker exposed himself even more frequently, G. said, she discovered a large wet spot that she believed to be ejaculate on the sheet after Tucker left.

G.’s brother confirmed to The Banner that she told him about the incidents at the time.

G. said she is coming forward now because she regrets keeping silent.

“Maybe if I had said something, nothing else would have happened,” she said. “I just want these girls who came after me to know they’re not alone.”

G. and most of the other accusers are being represented by attorneys Michael Belsky and Catherine Dickinson, partners at the SBWD Law Firm in Baltimore.

“We are continuing to gather the facts and the chronology of events, in order to see where that leads us,” the attorneys said in an email.

Another massage therapist, who asked to be identified as K. to protect her privacy, said Tucker also acted inappropriately with her at the Baltimore Spa & Salon around the same time.

K. said she initially massaged both Tucker and his now-wife together in a couple’s session. After that, Tucker scheduled other appointments alone with her, K. recalled.

At each session, Tucker repeatedly tried to pull the sheets down to expose his erection, K. said. During one of his final sessions, K. confronted Tucker but he only chuckled in response, she said.

K. then told a supervisor she did not want to massage Tucker again but did not explain why, she recalled. She said she was afraid that spa management would not take her side because of his high profile.

The owner of Baltimore Spa & Salon, Marilyn Horwath, did not respond to a request for comment from The Banner. Tucker’s representatives emailed The Banner a sworn declaration from Horwathsaying she was unaware of any complaints.

“Based on my conversations with employees of the spa, my understanding is that Mr. Tucker had an excellent reputation among the massage therapists and other employees with whom he interacted,” she wrote.

A seventh massage therapist said she had had a disturbingencounter with Tucker at Studio 921 in Locust Point, making her the second former employee of that spa to report inappropriate behavior by Tucker. The spa has since been sold to a new owner and changed names.

Studio 921 used to operate in the Foundry complex in Baltimore. (Jessica Gallagher / The Baltimore Banner)

The massage therapist, who asked to be identified as H. to protect her privacy, worked on Tucker a few times in 2014. H. said Tucker repeatedly pulled down the sheets to expose his genitals and once moved his hands to brush her thigh.

Eventually, H. said, she and another therapist approached the spa’s owners, telling them they no longer felt comfortable working on him.

The former owners of Studio 921 said Tucker was told in a phone conversation that he was not welcome back.

More than a decade later, H. said, Tucker’s actions still affect her. She said she felt outraged when she saw social media posts from those doubting the allegations against Tucker.

“Baltimore loves him for how good he is at his job,” she said. “But we’re also just trying to be good at our job as professionals, and it’s insulting that we don’t get the same respect.”

Baltimore Banner reporter Jonas Shaffer contributed to this report.