Former NBA star Matt Barnes is being dragged to court by the family of his girlfriend, including her ex-husband and his new girlfriend who claim he is harassing them.
According to legal documents, obtained by The Blast, Melisa Andino filed a restraining order against the basketball player asking for protection from him for herself, her fiance (NFL star David Patterson), and his three children. It should be noted, the three kids are with Matt’s current girlfriend, Anansa Sims, from their previous relationship.
In the filing, Andino explains that the two families are engaged in co-parenting the children, but feels they are not in a good place while staying with Barnes. Plus, she is accusing him of harassing them in group text messages.
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She explained, “August 22nd. 2022: The children reported to me and my fiance. David Patterson, that they were scared of Matt. They said that he is not nice to them. They said they are treated like visitors at his home. even though they live there. Little David said that he spends most of his time in a closet at Matt’s house.”
Adding, “They said that Matt only speaks to them at family dinners. They said the rest of the time, he goes into a room and smokes. They said that they feel like their mother loves Matt more than she loves them. This is very concerning to me since I have also been threatened by Matt Barnes.”
It’s unclear why Patterson’s fiancee is filing the restraining order and not him — since he is the children’s father — but it appears some of the “threats” have been sent in her direction. She also pointed out, the children “live at Matt’s home 50% of the time (every other week when they are with their mother.)”
As for the harassment, she doesn’t include the specific messages but describes the situation as “The harassment occurred in a group text chat. The individuals in the group text chat were: Matt Barnes, David Patterson, Anansa Sims. Beverly Johnson. Leesa Jackson and myself (Melisa Andino).”
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Adding, “I ask that Matt not attempt to threaten or harass me by speaking about me publicly on any public platform including social media. Matt has threatened to attempt to ruin my reputation and get me tired from my job and should not be allowed to speak about me to anyone. I am very afraid that he will try to slander my name.”
In the filing, Patterson’s fiancee outlines a few incidents where she believes there are issues with Barnes’ behavior, saying, “There are times that one of the children has started to tell me or my fiance something that happened at Matt’s house. and another child will say “Shh…don’t talk about that.” This makes me fear that they are being threatened not to tell us what goes on at Matt’s home. Given the public life Matt and Anansa lead. there are videos on social media of him cursing at the kids and pushing them.”
She continued, “If Matt Barnes will threaten me, a principal who has never said anything to him. would threaten a police officer. would choke and assault a woman…l understand why the children finally told their father and l that they were scared of him. l don’t believe children should be forced to live with a person who mistreats them because that is who their mother chooses to be with.”
The allegations appear to be a reference to various reports of Barnes being accused of choking a woman during an argument inside a New York nightclub. Back in 2016, the basketball star was accused of choking a woman during an argument and punching “2 other people” who tried to intervene. Police investigated the incident following a 911 call to the area.
In the end, a judge did not order Barnes restrained from the group but set a hearing to hear each side of the story on November 4, 2022.
