Civil suit accuses Edmonton Oilers owner of paying teenage ballerina for sex

A newly-filed U.S. civil suit claims Daryl Katz, the billionaire owner of the Edmonton Oilers, paid a teenage ballet dancer $75,000 in exchange for "her sexual favours."

The unproven allegations come in response to a sexual abuse lawsuit launched by seven aspiring ballerinas in 2021 against Mitchell Taylor Button, a dance teacher, and his wife Dusty Button, once a principal member of The Boston Ballet. 

Earlier this month, Taylor Button and his wife filed a third-party counterclaim in U.S. District Court in Nevada, admitting to a consensual "throuple sexual relationship" with Sage Humphries, the lead plaintiff in the suit. The cross-claim says their "loving and supportive" affair began in 2017, when Humphries was 18, but alleges she had been involved in three prior sexual relationships as an underage teen with much older men, including Katz.

The third-party claim seeks to hold those men liable for any damages, with the filing stating that if there's a price to be paid, "it should be paid by those who actually engaged in illegal acts with her." 

A lawyer representing Katz denied the allegations. 

The lawsuit makes a number of unsubstantiated allegations about Katz, Humphries, and her family.

"Humphries was literally a child prostitute to a billionaire," the claim says, "and her mother assisted her in laundering the money she was paid and in trafficking her to Katz."

Among the exhibits attached to the filing are screen shots of texts allegedly exchanged between Humphries and Katz, as well as an iPhone contact under the billionaire's name, listing a number with a 780 area code, most commonly associated with the Edmonton area. 

"If my guys send u funds will u spend it on/keep it for yourself?" Katz allegedly wrote. "And just