New England Patriots athlete Stefon Diggs appeared in court on Friday, February 13, after being accused of strangling his personal chef in December 2025.
Diggs, 32, entered a not guilty plea, according to court footage from The National Desk. The next hearing is scheduled for early April, until which Diggs was ordered not to have any contact with the alleged victim.
“We’re confident that after the facts and evidence are reviewed in this case, he will be completely exonerated,” Diggs’ lawyer Mitchell Schuster told reporters outside the courthouse, per TMZ.
Diggs was charged with felony strangulation and misdemeanor assault and battery in December 2025. His former chef claimed at the time that Diggs strangled her and threw her onto a bed after confronting him about allegedly unpaid wages.
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“It’s been a couple days. I usually get to talk to y’all on Wednesday, but obviously it’s a different time. An emotional time,” Diggs told reporters in a press conference last month. “[I am] taken aback by some things that’s been going on, but I want to be here to say sorry I wasn’t available for those couple days. It’s a different kind of time.”
According to the wide receiver, he was still “dealing with everything.”
“It’s definitely an open case, so I can’t even say anything about it,” Diggs said. “I will be open to any football questions, anything you want to know. I don’t want to be rude or disruptive in any way. If anybody asks me a question pertaining to [the allegations], I’m obviously just going to give you a look. Y’all kind of know me at this point.”
He continued, “Regarding football, I’m going to continue to be the guy I’ve been, trying to finish the season strong. It’s a good team on the other side of the road. Going in with the right mindset, I’m going to keep the same mindset. I’ve been a leader on this team. I’ve been the same person this whole time. Don’t expect no changes from me.”
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Diggs seldom missed a practice or a football game amid the scandal, including Super Bowl LX on Sunday, February 8. (The Patriots ultimately lost the NFL championship to the Seattle Seahawks.)
“We all deal with life stuff, family stuff,” Diggs said in his January press conference. “It’s the worldly stuff. Being a football team is hard. You band together, you lean on your brothers, you lean on your people that you spend the most time with. I just got to roll with the punches, trying to stay as positive as I can. It’s definitely something you always got to adjust to. I’m built for whatever.”
Diggs’ Patriots head coach, Brett Vrabel, has also addressed the accusations.
“These are allegations,” Vrabel, 50, said in a December 2025 media briefing. “It’s things that we have to handle, and every day there’s distractions, some are smaller than others. … We’ve taken the allegations very seriously. What comes of that I think then we’ll have another discussion. I don’t think we have to jump to any sort of conclusions right now and let the process take its toll.”
