The Rape Allegation Against Cristiano Ronaldo Reveals Fame's Protective Shield

To be the world’s most famous athlete means Cristiano Ronaldo can appear on screens everywhere yet somehow elude the fallout from a rape allegation.

- Sam Borden

On a warm October day in Las Vegas, we slip our car into a parking lot wedged between two buildings, then push open the door to the lawyer’s office. My colleague, Nicole Noren, and I figure this will be simple. We are in Nevada reporting on the rape allegations against Cristiano Ronaldo, and we want to meet Ronaldo’s attorneys, as well as the lawyers representing Kathryn Mayorga, the woman accusing him.

Normally, this sort of meeting is pretty straightforward for journalists. Lawyers, particularly those who do a lot of personal injury work in places with no shortage of clients like Las Vegas, almost always have a strong perspective on a case and are generally happy to tell you all about it. When those clients are celebrities and the cases are in the public eye, that chattiness—on the record or on background—is amped up even more.

We have seen news reports that a lawyer named Peter Christiansen is representing Ronaldo, though we have not confirmed this, and even if it is true, we are not sure which Peter Christiansen—there is a Peter J. and a Peter S. in this office. We find the Christiansen Law offices down the street from a bail bondsman and a wedding chapel. We go inside and, seeing no receptionist or secretary, follow a sign for “Christiansen” down a hall.

We step into an office where two women and a man are sitting. We identify ourselves and ask if we can either talk to or make an appointment with one of the Christiansens. The women physically recoil.

“You have to leave right now,” one of them replies. Her voice rises. “You’re not allowed to be here. You have to go. You have to go.”