Ballerina Dusty Button denies sexual assault allegations, labels accusers 'fame-hungry'
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Former ballet star Dusty Button, 33, who was accused of sexual assault, trafficking, and even child rape, along with her husband, Mitchell Taylor Button, 37, in 2021, has spoken out. She said, "I've done nothing wrong."
In a lawsuit, filed in 2021, Mitchell allegedly raped an underage with guns all around. Meanwhile, Dusty allegedly held a gun and filmed the sexual assault, where the victim cried and begged for stopping. The first accusations against Mitchell came into the picture in July 2021, when professional dancers Sage Humphries and Gina Menichino accused him of sexual assault, while Dusty was accused of helping him. However, now Dusty after a year-long silence has slammed the accusers as "fame-hungry liars," claiming that Humphries was in a consensual throuple with them.
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Recollecting the last year's events, Dusty said, "The first time any of this was mentioned I was in the middle of teaching 250 children. With the language they used, they wanted people to believe that I raped children. It's disgusting, the allegations make zero sense. All I've ever done is try to protect kids in this industry. I know 100 percent that we've never done anything wrong." Mitchell said, "The headlines were like a dagger to the back. Minor was raped at gunpoint by a famous ballerina and her husband. Every media outlet in the world would pick that up, why wouldn't they? Look at Amber Heard. She was recorded and proven in court to have abused Johnny Depp multiple times while he didn't reciprocate. But somehow she's a victim still and everyone will band behind her because she's a female. And that's kind of where we're at now. It's just about trying to survive. Both of us would have taken our own lives months into this if we weren't together. It feels like you're drowning and someone's got their boot on your face."
Mitchell and Dusty, who allegedly promised to mentor then 19-year-old Humphries and make her a social media star, said there is evidence to dismiss the accusers as they have intimate pictures of them being consensual with Humphries. "You can see from the texts on all three ends that it was a loving, caring relationship. And yes, it's weird. We agree it's weird. We slipped up in that one moment in our lives and it's the biggest mistake we ever made. We never appealed the order because we never wanted to see her face again or anyone related to her. There we were thinking it was done but apparently she ran out of money and here she is wanting more from us," says Mitchell.
Dusty-Mitchell file counterclaim
The couple filed a counterclaim against Humphries and the other dancers, plus five other defendants, which includes Humphries’ parents, on July 28 of this year. According to court documents, Mitchell and Dusty claimed in the new filing that Humphries was not sexually abused by the couple, but was abused by multiple older men. Before she moved to Boston, she allegedly was in a relationship with former New York City Ballet principal dancer Chase Finlay while he was engaged to another dancer, as per the filing. She was underage at the time. They also say Humphries had another boyfriend, Anthony Giovanni Deane, who was in his 40s when he dated her when she was only 17. They claim she planned to elope with him.