The 24-year-old woman who was filmed ‘grinding’ with Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer has been placed under investigation by her employer and fears losing her job, according to her mother.
The woman, who has yet to be named and works at an Ohio-based marketing company, is afraid to leave her home after facing abuse after the video went viral on the internet last week, her mother told USA Today Thursday.
‘I’m worried for her emotional status right now,’ the woman’s concerned mother told the outlet’s sports faction.
New Horizon Media Group, the firm where the woman works, has begun an internal investigation within the company into the female employee, after the video her dancing with the Jacksonville Jaguars head coach emerged on social media and quickly went viral.
The video, shot at Urban Chophouse in Columbus, Ohio, also shows the coach appearing to fondle the woman from behind.
The company says the investigation’s purpose is to discern whether or not the scandal surrounding their female employee will effect operations at their firm – which does business with Urban Chophouse, a restaurant which is owned by Meyer.
The mother of the woman in the now-viral video is now concerned for the well-being of her daughter in the wake of the scandal, USA reported, as she has been the target of rampant abuse since the video surfaced last week, and is subsequently afraid to leave the Ohio home she just bought.
‘(She) can’t even go anywhere,’ the mother – who has also yet to be identified – told USA Today Sports. ‘It’s ruining her life.’
The Ohio mother then told the outlet she was praying her daughter does not get fired, because she needs the job to finance her newly purchased home.
‘I just pray that Alex [the owner of New Horizons] doesn’t fire my daughter because she needs this job,’ the woman said. ‘She just bought a house.’
When asked why an investigation is necessary, New Horizon told USA that they were merely looking into whether or not the scandal would have any lasting effects on operations at the company, as the firm does business with Urban Chophouse.
‘We’re going to undertake our internal investigation to determine what, if any, impact this has on the company and we’ll proceed accordingly,’ New Horizon Media Group told USA Today.
‘We’ve had no prior issues with her whatsoever,’ a rep for the company added, saying, ‘she’s been a very solid asset to the company.’
DailyMail.com reached out to New Horizon Media and an attorney representing the company, Brian Duncan, for comment. Neither responded immediately.
Duncan told USA Today, however, that the female employee was continuing to work for the company during the investigation, adding that New Horizon could not ‘make any determination as to her (employment) status’.
Duncan revealed that New Horizons has a business relationship with Meyer’s Urban Chophouse, which the former Ohio State coach runs with a local restaurateur.
The videos of the woman and Meyer spread across social media last week, after the Jaguars lost to the Bengals 24-21 during a Thursday Night Football fixture in Cincinnati.
The coach raised eyebrows when he decided not to travel back with the team after the game, so that he could visit family in Columbus.
He was then captured on video with several young women at Urban Chophouse in Columbus – with one being the woman in question.
Meyer promptly apologized to his players at a team meeting nearly a week later on Wednesday, for subjecting them and his wife Shelley to the embarrassment associated with the sordid affair, calling the encounter with the unnamed woman a ‘stupid mistake.’
‘I apologized for the distraction with this huge week coming up, especially after they made so much improvement from Week 1 to Week 4,’ Meyer told reporters ahead of Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans.
Meyer specifically admitted that he ’embarrassed’ his wife Shelley, speaking with reporters after Wednesday’s team meeting – but seemed confident that his marriage would survive.
‘I don’t want to get into our personal life but 37 years we’ve been together and it’s been awesome, man,’ Meyer said.
‘And this speed bump’s not going to get in the way of that.’
Meyer, a decorated former college coach just four games into his NFL career, also stressed that he has not considered resigning.
Two videos have surfaced in the wake of the incident.
Meyer described Wednesday’s team meting as a ‘very pointed conversation’ in which he owned ‘a stupid mistake.’ He went on to say that the team leaders have given him ‘over the top’ support.
That claim comes in contrast to reports that began surfacing Tuesday.
‘He has zero credibility in that stadium,’ one Jaguars player told reporter Michael Silver. ‘He had very little to begin with.’
‘He even canceled the team meeting,’ the player told Silver. ‘He was too scared.’
Meyer first addressed the issue with his players on Monday, vowing to ‘own it’ – a motto he uses regularly and has inscribed around the Jaguars practice facility.
However, Meyer’s attempt at accountability may have been met with skepticism. After Meyer left the meeting, many in the room burst out laughing according to one player.
‘We looked at him like, WTF?’ Silver was told. ‘Right when he left everyone started dying laughing. And he knew it.’
There’s even a chance that the scandal could cost Meyer his job after just four regular season games.
‘According to two Jacksonville sources, there are many closed-door meetings happening over the last two days in the football offices and none of them have anything to do with the Titans,’ tweeted sportswriter Michael Lombardi. ‘Stay tuned. This might get ugly.’
Fan reaction has been mixed.
Some on social media expressed shock that Meyer could lose his job after only four games, while some are already calling for him to take the expected opening at the University of Southern California.
One fan on social media pointed out that the bar where Meyer was seen fondling the woman on Friday night actually has a mural of him alongside his wife, Shelley.
The Twitter account @TheOllieC shared a screenshot from an unnamed Instagram story, in which a woman is seen next to Urban Meyer with the picture captioned ‘WHO IS THIS HE KEEPS FLIRTING WITH ME’
On Monday, Meyer said he’s concerned the videos could have long-term ramifications with players he has asked to buy into his makeover.
‘I have a very good relationship with our players,’ Meyer said. ‘I’ve dealt with this, not on the other side but with staff members and with other things, and I’ve dealt with it. So to say I’m concerned, yeah, I am concerned. But I just got to do right.’
Meyer addressed the team again on Wednesday to offer another apology, according to ESPN.
Jaguars owner Shad Khan has publicly reprimanded Meyer for the coach’s ‘inexcusable’ behavior.
Khan released a statement Tuesday condemning Meyer’s actions, which were captured on video and released on social media.
One shows a young woman dancing close to Meyer’s lap as he sits on a bar stool, a clip that quickly went viral. A second, more damning video appears to show Meyer touching the woman’s behind.
‘I have addressed this matter with Urban. Specifics of our conversation will be held in confidence. What I will say is his conduct last weekend was inexcusable,’ Khan said.
‘I appreciate Urban’s remorse, which I believe is sincere. Now, he must regain our trust and respect. That will require a personal commitment from Urban to everyone who supports, represents or plays for our team. I am confident he will deliver.’
Meyer responded to Khan’s statement during a radio interview on Tuesday night.
‘I made a comment when I got here about the logo, about an owner who wants to win in the worst way,’ Meyer said. ‘That’s one of the reasons I came here. I just, I admire that guy so much. … And so, that’s what makes me so angry at myself that I lived that, I believe that and I failed.’
Khan released a statement condemning Meyer’s actions, which were captured on video and released on social media. One shows a young woman dancing close to Meyer’s lap as he sits on a bar stool, a clip that quickly went viral. A second, more damning video appears to show Meyer touching the woman’s behind.
The video sparked rumors of infidelity on Meyer’s part. He has been married to wife Shelley Mather Meyer for 35 years.
Shelley has made it clear that she’s aware of the incident, tweeting ‘meanwhile, I am babysitting’ and posting pictures of her grandchildren taking a bath in response to a viral photo from her husband’s night out.
Meyer didn’t fly back with his winless team following Jacksonville’s 24-21 loss at Cincinnati on Thursday night, a highly unusual move for any coach.
Instead, he remained in his home state of Ohio to see family members and went to dinner Friday at his restaurant/bar in Columbus, Urban Meyer’s Pint House.
‘I kinda wonder something: Do fans recognize how incredibly unusual it was for Urban Meyer to not fly home with the team last week?’ tweeted The Athletic’s Stephen Holder. ‘Like, in 16 years on the NFL beat, I can’t recall a situation remotely similar.’
Meyer claimed Wednesday that he discussed missing the team flight ‘way in advance’ with general manager Trent Baalke.
Controversy is nothing new to Meyer, who has been accused of protecting former Ohio State and University of Florida assistant coach Zach Smith as he faced allegations of domestic violence.
The Buckeyes suspended Meyer for three games shortly before the 2018 season for mishandling Smith’s misconduct that included domestic violence allegations, a drug problem and poor job performance.
An investigation turned up ‘a pattern of troubling behavior by Zach Smith: promiscuous and embarrassing sexual behavior, drug abuse, truancy, dishonesty, financial irresponsibility, a possible NCAA violation, and a lengthy police investigation into allegations of criminal domestic violence and cybercrimes,’ according to summary investigative findings released by the university.
Meyer fired Smith at Ohio State in 2018 when the assistant was charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass after a dispute with his ex-wife Courtney.
The arrest led to the revelation that Smith was previously accused of beating her when he worked as an assistant under Meyer at the University of Florida in 2009, when Courtney was pregnant, and again in 2015, when the couple was living near Columbus, Ohio. Courtney later told Stadium.com’s Brett McMurphy that she believed Meyer was aware of the attacks.
Zach Smith pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in October of 2018 in connection with his arrest in July of that year. He also signed a consent agreement and domestic violence civil protection order preventing him from having contact with Courtney for three years.
Smith violated that protection order in 2019 and was sentenced to 180 days in Jail in February of 2020.
Courtney alleged her then-husband shoved her against a wall and put his hands around her neck in 2015, one of several alleged domestic incidents involving the couple that came to light after he was fired.
Meyer ultimately kept his job, but stepped down after the season in what was his second retirement from coaching.
The Ohio native has been one of the biggest names in college football over the last two decades, winning a pair of national titles at Florida and a third at OSU. —
Original Article: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10073781/Woman-grinded-Urban-Meyer-scared-lose-job.html
That’s ridiculous