American Disgrace (Season 16, Episode 2)
Premise: A press rep accuses a beloved retired basketball star of drugging and raping her, and two more women come forward, each paid by the same sponsor.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 16, Episode 2
- Starring
- Sgt. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), Det. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola (Ice-T), Det. Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish), Det. Dominick “Sonny” Carisi Jr. (Peter Scanavino), ADA Rafael Barba (Raúl Esparza), Defense Attorney Rita Calhoun (Elizabeth Marvel)
- Guest stars
- Henry Simmons as Shakir Wilkins, Stacy Keach as Orion Bauer, Teri Polo as Cordelia Bauer, Kelley Missal as Carla Gannon, Lakisha May as Tiana Raynes
- Director
- Arthur W. Forney
- Writers
- Warren Leight & Julie Martin
Summary
“American Disgrace” opens at a press event where clothing mogul Orion Bauer and his daughter, vice president Cordelia, renew the contract of retired basketball star Shakir “The Shark” Wilkins. Told to see Shakir out, press rep Carla Gannon (called Carla Cannon in the episode) attacks him in an elevator and tells reporters he raped her. She tells SVU that on Memorial Day she had one drink with him at his hotel bar and woke up naked and sore in his room. When she told Bauer, he suggested she was confused, and she later received a $5,000 bonus. Bauer and Cordelia, who is also his lawyer, deny any payoff, and Shakir says they only had a drink and calls the claim a shakedown timed to his divorce and custody fight.
Rollins’s former captain in Atlanta, Sam Reynolds, reports a stylist, Macie-Lynn Pearce, with the same story; she tells Rollins that Bauer offered her a bonus to let it go. Bauer’s remarks lead them to a third woman, store clerk Tiana Raynes, who kept her stained dress and underwear. Shakir, with lawyer Rita Calhoun, then admits sex with all three but insists it was consensual, and he admits having prescriptions for sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medication. Carisi doubts the women, but Barba charges Shakir and builds his case around Bauer as the witness all three women went to. Carla records Shakir offering to make the case go away, and he is arrested. Orion Bay drops him.
At trial Bauer testifies that he now believes the women, and Calhoun suggests he is avoiding bribery charges and escaping a costly contract. Preparing to testify, Tiana complains she was paid less than the others and admits she was paid to say Shakir raped her. Judge Virginia Farrell refuses to dismiss but grants a 48-hour delay. Questioned again, Bauer erupts about loyalty and turns on Cordelia. She then confronts him, and he admits having Shakir followed and paying the three women he had slept with, furious that Shakir had an affair with Cordelia and got her pregnant, and he describes Shakir in racist terms.
Spoiler, the ending: A recording of that conversation reaches Barba on the condition that it is not used against Bauer, and the charges are dismissed. The women are not prosecuted, since charging complainants can deter real victims. Shakir, his career ruined, admits he lied to Cordelia about the other women and asks Cordelia to raise their baby with him, but she tells him it is too late: there is no longer a baby.
Why it stands out
- Teri Polo, then starring in The Fosters, guest stars as Cordelia Bauer; she had appeared in the Season 10 episode “Confession” as a different character.
- Stacy Keach, Henry Simmons and Sandy Duncan also guest star, and sportscaster Al Trautwig appears as himself at the press conference.
- Elizabeth Marvel returns as defense attorney Rita Calhoun.