Michael Flatley

An $11.1 million default judgment awarded to Michael Flatley in an extortion case is almost double what the "Lord of the Dance" star requested a few months ago.

In a court declaration filed Sept. 7, Flatley said he was entitled to at least $6 million in damages for the harm to his reputation and the emotional distress he suffered after Tyna Marie Robertson falsely accused him of raping her in a Las Vegas hotel room. She and her attorney, D. Dean Mauro, allegedly demanded $1 million from Flatley for their silence.

“Defendants' threats to subject me to false criminal charges and to 'ruin' me by spreading these false charges wherever I or the dance troupes perform 'for the rest of my life' ... caused me severe emotional distress,” Flatley declared.

After a hearing Dec. 7 at which the Irish dancer testified, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael L. Stern found “adequate support” for a judgment of $11,095,872. The record “conclusively establish[es] the falsity of Robertson's claims and Robertson's malicious, intentional and willful publication of these false accusations,” he said.

Where the additional $5 million came from is unclear. But Flatley's declaration reflected only general damage to his reputation and not “the specific amount of monetary harm” caused to his business.

Flatley is unlikely to recover much of the judgment from Robertson, a real estate agent and the single mother of a child whose father is Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher. She recently pleaded for extra child support from Urlacher, saying, “I only have $6 in my name to support my son.”

Mauro settled the case against him after the California Supreme Court ruled in July 2006 that his communications with Flatley were not protected under a free-speech law. Flatley v. Mauro, 39 Cal.4th 299.

By Matthew Heller
12/14/07