By KBC Associate :max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(741x264:743x266)/Riccardo-Tisci-1-050125-77316e53f325461cb7ac588fa960ec0b.jpg?w=1200&resize=1200,0&ssl=1 "Riccardo Tisci Sued for Alleged Sexual Assault in New York")
- Patrick Cooper accused fashion designer Riccardo Tisci of allegedly drugging and assaulting him in June 2024
- Cooper filed the lawsuit against the former creative director of Burberry on Tuesday, April 29 in New York City
- A spokesperson for Tisci denied the allegations and said Tisci “looks forward to clearing his name of these false and malicious accusations”
Riccardo Tisci, former creative director of Burberry and Givenchy, has been accused of drugging and assaulting a man in June 2024, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE.
On Tuesday, April 29, Patrick Cooper filed a lawsuit against Tisci, 50, claiming assault, battery, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress and violations of New York State’s Gender-Motivated Violence Act. He is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
“These allegations are categorically untrue,” a spokesperson for Tisci said in a statement to PEOPLE. “Riccardo looks forward to clearing his name of these false and malicious accusations. He will obtain vindication through due process.”
Burberry via Getty
Tisci is known for working with Madonna, Beyoncé, Meryl Streep, Rihanna, Cate Blanchett and Kim Kardashian.
Cooper, 35, alleges that around June 29, 2024, Tisci put a drug in Cooper’s drink at a Harlem, New York, restaurant. Cooper claims that Tisci did not offer drugs to Cooper or inform him “that he was placing a drug in his drink,” per the filing. Additionally, Cooper claims he did not consent to accepting drugs.
Cooper claims that “once the drug took effect,” Tisci brought Cooper back to his home, where he “prevented [Cooper] from leaving and sexually assaulted him.” When Cooper woke up, he found himself and Tisci naked next to each other. The filing claims that at the time of the aforementioned sexual assault, Cooper “lacked the capacity to consent” and “was not conscious.”
As a result of the drug(s) that Tisci allegedly gave Cooper, the latter was “unable to reject, fight, stop, or defend himself [from Tisci],” per the filing.
Dave Benett/Getty
The New York Police Department declined to provide a comment. However, the NYPD representative said, “The NYPD takes sexual assault and rape cases extremely seriously, and urges anyone who has been a victim to file a police report so we can perform a comprehensive investigation, and offer support and services to survivors.”
Representatives for Tisci and Cooper’s attorney, Philip Hines, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for more information on Thursday.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.