Monica Aldama is fighting back claims that she helped cover up a sexual assault incident at Navarro College.
The head coach from the hit Netflix series “Cheer” told TMZ on Friday she is “heartbroken by the false allegations.”
Aldama, 51, claimed she has worked “year after year” to make Navarro Cheer a safe space for her students and said she would never remain silent if she ever became “aware that any sexual misconduct occurred in the Cheer program.”
A rep for Navarro College reiterated their coach’s statement, and also told TMZ they plan to “vigorously defend itself in court.”
Ex-Navarro cheerleader Madi Lane is suing the Texas-based school and Aldama over their alleged efforts to conceal a 2021 incident.
The athlete claimed in the suit, previously obtained by Page Six, that her teammate Salvatore “Salvo” Amico allegedly groped her chest and inserted his fingers inside her after he went over to her dorm room with a group of friends. She allegedly screamed and begged him to stop.
When Lane told Aldama what occurred a week later, the coach allegedly said in response, “Let’s not make this a big deal” and told her to “keep quiet” if she wanted to continue her collegiate career in cheerleading.
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Lane also alleged, per the suit, that she suffered retaliation after quitting the team.
She claimed Navarro coaches and former teammates “blackballed” her from other programs for coming forward about the alleged assault.
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Lane also said she had been told by another Navarro cheerleader Maddy Brum, who was heavily featured on Season 2 of “Cheer,” that they usually “don’t tell anyone” about sexual misconduct claims out of fear that their program budget would get cut.
Brum has not addressed Lane’s claims. Both ladies do not currently cheer for Navarro.
This is not the first time the stars of “Cheer” have faced a public sex scandal.
In July 2022, former cheerleader Jerry Harris was sentenced to 12 years behind bars for soliciting naked pictures of underage boys.
