Former ‘RHOA’ star Claudia Jordan Testified At Mike Tyson’s Rape Trial
To say Mike Tyson has had a colorful life would be putting it lightly. The once heavyweight champion of the world was one of the biggest and most fascinating characters in entertainment. His world came crashing down in 1991 when he was accused of rape. His image took a severe hit, and his alleged history as being violent toward women was put on full display, including his abusive marriage to actress, Robin Givens.
Tyson was found guilty and convicted of the 1992 rape and served jail time. Claudia Jordan recently revealed that the woman who accused Tyson of rape is a close friend – and that she testified at the trial.
A recap of Desiree Rogers rape allegation against Mike Tyson’
Tyson met Washington during the 1992 Miss Black America Pageant in Indianapolis. At the time, Tyson was 24 and Washington was 18. Tyson was there as a celebrity guest and was asked to perform a song in a rap video during pageant rehearsals. The video would feature 23 contestants, one of whom was Washington.
Related: Mike Tyson’s Ego Was Once So Big He Thought He Was a ‘Demi-God’
Tyson asked Washington out on a date and she gave the boxing champion her hotel room number. At some point, Washington met with Tyson in his hotel room. She said that Tyson became forceful and aggressive and raped her as she tried hard to fight him off.
“I tried to punch him, but it was like hitting a wall,” she testified, according to a 1995 report in the LA Times. “I said, ‘Get off! Get off me!’ The next thing I knew, he slammed me on the bed. I was begging him, ‘Please, I have a future ahead of me…Please, I don’t need a baby…Please, I’m going to college. He said, ‘So, we have a baby,’ and jammed himself inside me. I felt like someone was ripping me apart.”
Claudia Jordan is friends with Mike Tyson’s accuser and testified at rape trial
Jordan and Washington met while competing in beauty pageants. Jordan a native of Rhode Island, won the Miss Rhode Island Teen USA 1990 title and represented Rhode Island at the Miss Teen USA 1990 pageant the same year. In 1997, she won the Miss Rhode Island USA title, making history as only the second African-American woman to hold that title. She competed at Miss USA 1997 and placed in the top 10.
During a chat on actress Vivica A. Fox’s podcast Hustling With Vivica A. Fox, Jordan explained that she and Washington were both in Indianapolis for the Miss Black USA pageant in 1992. According to Jordan, Washington was considering dropping out of the competition and felt insecure against the other models. Jordan says that she convinced her friend to stay. The next day, Washington was raped by Tyson.
Washington broke the news to Jordan over the phone the following day. Jordan felt extreme guilt over the rape and did what she could to help Washington in the aftermath, including going with her to get her rape kit completed at a nearby hospital, which Jordan says was traumatizing.
‘Okay, have you taken a shower? We gotta come pick you up.’ We picked her up, we took her to the hospital and I could tell, as soon as I saw her, that she was broken…I took her, I held her hand while she was having her vaginal examination. They said there was evidence,” she told Fox.
Jordan was called in as a witness for the prosecution. She admitted that the situation was intimidating and that the heavyweight boxer was infuriated as she testified on the stand. Still, she refused to not do her part in trying to get justice for her friend.
“It was horrible for me. [Tyson] was like 10 feet away, he was mad,” she said. Jordan said Tyson punched his hands aggressively as she testified on the stand.
“I think he thought I was called by the defense like all the other paid off witnesses that came to the trial in new clothes and fresh from a trip from Jamaica. But when I got on the stand, I’m a hostile witness for their side,” she said.
Jordan says that recovering from the experience was difficult for Washington. Washington’s family lost their ranch-style home and her parents separated, citing the rape as a contributing factor. She later moved into a cramped apartment with her mother.
Tyson was convicted of rape and sentenced to six years in prison but was paroled after serving three years. To date, Tyson denies that he raped Washington and once said he believes he was convicted because most of the people on the jury were white.
