‘After a friendly 45 second conversation with the employee in an open lobby that was witnessed by others, multiple witnesses have provided statements verifying Michael was a gentleman and behaved just like you see on television,’ reads a statement from McCathern, the Texas law firm representing Irvin. ‘He was being gracious with fans, taking pictures and speaking with anyone who wanted some of his time.’

Marriott spokespeople have not responded to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.

After returning to his room following the brief exchange with the woman, Irving claims he was woken up by hotel staff, who removed him from the hotel without explanation. 

‘Plaintiff was judged guilty without even knowing the accusations,’ the lawsuit reads. ‘A few days later, Plaintiff was removed from his scheduled programming, and essentially ”kicked off the air” and ”cancelled” due to these allegations.’

In his lawsuit, Irving claims he has witnesses who can support his statement that he and Doe ‘casually exchanged pleasantries,’ adding that the 56-year-old ‘shook her hand, and went to his room alone.’

The filing also claims that the hotel refused to listen to eye-witness accounts of the interaction.

What’s more, the hotel manager is accused in reporting the incident to the NFL ‘with the intention of damaging that relationship and canceling [Irvin].’

‘Evidently, as Plaintiff was sleeping one of the managers of the Hotel reported false information to the NFL about the Plaintiff accusing him of improper behavior towards a hotel employee,’ the lawsuit reads. ‘The NFL responded by removing Plaintiff from all scheduled programming surrounding the Super Bowl. Plaintiff’s representatives have reached out to the hotel and even met in person to obtain clarity about this situation and provide witnesses and resolve this matter before Plaintiff’s reputation could be damaged any further—but to no avail.’

Irving says he’s already had appearances canceled as a result of the accusations.

‘It is clear Michael is the latest victim of our cancel culture where all it takes is an accusation to ruin a person’s life,’ McCathern said in the firm’s statement. ‘Michael looks forward to clearing his name in court and hopes the Court of public opinion will see the truth come out as well.’

‘So they moved my hotel, and I said, ”What’s going on, guys? What’s happening? Why are we moving hotels?”

‘They said, ”Well, last night you walked in, you talked to somebody.” I said, ”I didn’t talk to anybody. I went straight to the room.”

‘And then they showed it on camera that I did talk to somebody. I talked to this girl for about a minute. I don’t know what — they didn’t show it to me. They told it to me. I didn’t see it. But that’s why they moved me, because I guess the girl said I said something to her within that minute that we talked, and so they moved me.’

‘That’s why I’m kind of hiding to wait and see how everything comes down,’ Irvin added. ‘It was a minute meeting somewhere in the lobby. I don’t even remember it really because I had a few drinks, to tell you the truth.’