After losing the Super Bowl, New England Patriots' star Stefon Diggs had some trouble off the pitch, some legal ones.

The Patriots' Wide receiver is facing allegations of physically confronting his live-in personal chef during a dispute over her pay at his Dedham home in December 2025.

He now faces charges including felony strangulation or suffocation and misdemeanor assault and battery. The first court hearing of this case on Friday lasted just over a minute. During which his legal team filed a not guilty plea on his behalf.

“He is completely innocent of these false allegations that have been alleged against him. We’re confident that after the facts and evidence reviewed in this case, he will be completely exonerated,” Diggs' attorney Mitchell Schuster said.

As is clear from the filed paperwork, the said private chef disclosed to the police that Stefon Diggs had become aggressive last December, after a financial disagreement transpired. She reported that the disagreement had turned into a physical confrontation with the NFL player.

In a motion thus filed, Diggs’ legal team alleges that the former chef deleted some text messages from her iPhone and provided only those that supported her account of a pay-related dispute. They claim she deleted the messages to conceal her role in a dispute with another employee, and that she was in danger of losing her job.

In the same motion filed, they have asked the court to mandate the chef and an unnamed company to provide emails and text messages sent between December 2, 2025, and January 9, 2026. The accused victim has also made her stance clear as well.

“I have never sought money nor engaged in settlement discussions to settle this matter; statements suggesting otherwise are harmful and untrue,” she stated. “My focus is on healing, my work, and moving forward with integrity. I trust the legal process to address the facts, and I hope anyone following this matter will do the same.”

For now, the court has released Stefon Diggs on personal recognizance. It has also ordered the Pats' star to stay away from and have no contact with the victim. He is due back in court in April.

Written by

Reyansh Dubey

Edited by

Joyita Das