Brenda Tracy says 'outside party' revealed her identity in sexual harassment case against Mel Tucker
Michigan State and the Spartans football program has been rocked in recent days by public revelations of a months-long behind-the-scenes investigation into head football coach Mel Tucker for alleged sexual harassment. And according to the complainant, Brenda Tracy, the desire was to keep the process private.
In a statement via her attorney, Karen Truszkowski, Tracy said her intent was never to make this proceeding public. She only shifted her stance once an “outside party” leaked her identity to media.
“An outside party disclosed Brenda Tracy’s identity to local media, which led to the USA Today story,” the statement reads. “Brenda Tracy had no intention of publicly disclosing her identity. She was and continues to be committed to complying with and concluding the MSU internal investigative process. She respected the process and chose not to go to the media to preserve the integrity of the process. After the investigation process was completed, we would have determined, what, if any further steps to take. Instead, her identity was disclosed without her knowledge or consent, warranting express actions to protect her. Her choice to allow this process to proceed privately was taken away.”
It concludes, hammering home that Tracy wasn’t looking to go public: “Let me be patently clear: Brenda Tracy had no intention of disclosing anything publicly until someone else violated her right to confidentiality.”
Later on Tuesday, Tracy clarified the situation with a further statement, via her personal X account.
“From the moment of filing my formal complaint against Coach Tucker in December 2022, my focus has been to navigate and complete the school process without the involvement of the public and the media. Given the high-profile nature of the case and the history of MSU as it pertains to other survivors of sexual misconduct, I entered into the process hopeful but also with a healthy amount of skepticism. As the investigation moved forward, the behavior and statements by Coach Tucker and his lawyer Jennifer Belveal made it very evident to me that I was going to need to defend and protect myself,” the new statement reads.
Because of this, Tracy said, she shared documents from the case file with USA Today so a story could be published following the investigation and conclusion of the Michigan State discipline process. Tracy emphasized the goal was for a story to come after the ordeal, “but also just in case my name leaked — which it did.”
She also addressed the specific timing of the story.
“I did not want to publish my story in the early morning hours last weekend, but I had no choice because someone outed me to the media. I am angry that my right to confidentiality has been violated and I hope that those responsible are held accountable. It is unacceptable that survivors must endure continued violations of our agency and autonomy in an attempt to seek justice and accountability for the harm done to us.”
Tucker issued a statement on Monday refuting the allegations
Tucker is currently suspended without pay as he is in the midst of a sexual harassment investigation. On Monday afternoon, Tucker released a statement, claiming the allegations to be false.
“Brenda Tracy’s allegations of harassment are completely false,” Tucker said in a statement from his attorney, shared by Chris Solari of the Detroit Free Press. “The proceedings initiated by Ms. Tracy are devoid of any semblance of fairness for any matter of this importance, and the University’s ‘hearing’ scheduled for October 5-6 is so flawed that there is no other opportunity for the truth to come out.”
Later in his statement, Tucker wanted to make sure something was “perfectly clear.” He says the phone conversation between him and Brenda Tracy was “entirely mutual” and believes it was a “private event” between the two. According to Tucker, Tracy was the one to initiate the conversation, one which took place for over 30 minutes.
“Yes, I did have a late-night intimate conversation with Ms. Tracy in April 2022,” Tucker said. “Again, as even Ms. Tracy’s statements to the investigator confirm, this conversation had nothing to do with the University and was outside of the scope of Title IX or any University policy… While I am saddened by Ms. Tracy’s disclosure of the sensitive nature of this call, let me be perfectly clear — it was an entirely mutual, private event between two adults living at opposite ends of the country.
“She initiated the discussion that night, sent me a provocative picture of the two of us together, suggested what she may look like without clothes, and never once during the 36 minutes did she object in any manner, much less hang up the phone.”