An indigent professional golfer who lives in Puerto Rico has sued CNN in the United States Court for the District of Puerto Rico for alleging the network said false things about him after interviewing him about his ex girlfriend, former supermodel Beverly Johnson, who accused comedian Bill Cosby of drugging her in the 1980s.

Mark Burk said he told CNN reporters that Johnson never said anything negative about Cosby during the time they lived together from 2005 to 2009.

Johnson revealed to Vanity Fair in December that Cosby had drugged her during a visit she made to his house in New York to audition for the ‘The Cosby Show’. Johnson claimed that Cosby made her a capuccino and after two sips felt drugged. Johnson said Cosby tried to drug her at his home, insisting she have a cappuccino from the espresso machine at his personal bar.The model said that she insulted the comedian and that he put her in a taxi. Johnson’s claims follow a string of similar accusations made by women claiming that Cosby drugged or sexually abused them.

Burk is a professional golfer who was featured in a TV show on the Golf Channel titled ‘Pipe Dreams’ which recounted his efforts to return to professional golf while living on the streets.

Burk, who currently lives in a room in an apartment in the Hato Rey sector in San Juan and is on the nutritional assistance program, told NotiCel he came to Puerto Rico after the Tourism Company invited him in 2012 to give golf classes and advocate for the homeless.

His series in the Golf Channel was canceled so he stayed in Puerto Rico after several producers expressed an interest in doing a documentary about his efforts to qualify for professional golf tournaments on the island, a project that eventually collapsed.

Burk makes a living by occasionally teaching golf at a small park in Hato Rey but does not know if he will go back to the streets again because has yet to pay his January rent. He is working on a documentary series with Miguel Zayas, CEO of Sentidocomun.tv, whom he met while living in the Salvation Army Shelter in 2013.

There was a time in his life when Burk lived among the rich and famous. In the 1980s, he was a professional golfer who played in tournaments in South Africa and California. He even gave golf lessons to actors Halle Berry and Hugh Jackman as they prepared for the film Swordfish.

Between 2005 and 2009, he was the live-in boyfriend of Johnson but the relationship did not end in amicable terms. The model accused Burk of domestic abuse, charges that were later dismissed. Burk insisted to NotiCel that Johnson lied about the accusations.

‘The relationship ended because I was obsessed with golf,’ Burk sustained.

He said he had left the Johnson chapter behind him. In December, however, he learned about the accusations she made against Cosby in Vanity Fair. Burk said he contacted Cosby’s lawyer, Martin Singer, to inform him that Johnson never said anything negative about Cosby during the time they were living together and only had praises for the comedian.

Singer contacted CNN, who was preparing to do a story about Cosby with Johnson, to urge the network to interview Burk because he lived with Johnson for 4 years, and never mentioned the drugging allegations.

According to Burk, several reporters from CNN interviewed him but at all times tried to coerce him into corroborating Johnson’s story. He informed Singer about the network’s behavior.

‘While airing untested stories from accusers who have seemingly been subject to little or no vetting,’ Singer said in a letter published by TMZ, ‘CNN takes the opposite approach and with anyone who comes forward with information undermining accusers’ claims or with relevant information supporting Mr. Cosby.’

CNN fired back a letter signed by David Vigilante, legal adviser to the network, defending their decision not to use Burk’s interview. The letter accuses Singer of dishonesty. In the letter, which was leaked to the media, Vigilante said Burk was not a credible witness and that he had an ‘ax to grind’ with Johnson. CNN also said Burk has a history of abuse and violence against Johnson and described him as a criminal. The letter noted that Burk did not know Johnson at the time of the drugging claims.

Vigilante said that while Burk claimed that the charges were dismissed, CNN found no evidence to support his claims. Burk said the remarks made by CNN harmed his reputation and is suing for $19 million in damages.

The golfer sent NotiCel evidence of the judge’s order dismissing the charges against him in November 2013. Burk said that one of his defense witnesses at the time was actor Chris Noth, who played Mr. Big in the series ‘Sex and The City ‘, whom Johnson had accused of stalking even though her own bodyguard said he never saw the actor roaming around her house.

Burk said CNN knew beforehand that he lived with Johnson, years after the events with Cosby took place and still chose to interview him, only to end up insulting him in the letter leaked to the press. ‘All I did was give an honest description of the events related to Johnson … CNN was not interested in anything positive about Cosby or Johnson’s true character,’ Burk said, adding that the model has ‘certain issues’.

The golfer said he currently has a lawsuit in the court for the District of Puerto Rico for breach of contract against two producers in connection to a television project. That lawsuit is being handled by the local law firm Fiddler, Gonzalez and Rodriguez’s probono program.

Vigilante did not answer calls made by NotiCel.

Burk lawsuit againt CNN in Puerto Rico – NotiCel_10398