Regional Mexican music legend Ramón Ayala is facing a $25 million lawsuit from an unnamed tour photographer alleging Ayala’s son engaged in abusive behavior toward the staffer.
In a case filed Tuesday (Feb. 17) and obtained by Billboard, a man identified as John Doe says Ramón Ayala Jr. engaged in a “dangerous pattern of escalating sexualized misconduct and assaultive behavior,” including unwanted touching and exposing his genitals.
In one instance, the lawsuit claims, Ayala Jr. threw a bag of cocaine at the accuser. In another, Doe claims the younger Ayala held him down and “sucked plaintiff’s toes.”
“Without warning and without consent, defendant Ayala Jr. physically grabbed plaintiff’s legs, restrained him, forcibly removed plaintiff’s footwear, and engaged in sexually offensive physical contact with plaintiff’s foot,” writes the accuser’s attorney. “Defendant did this act in a sexual manner, and did it by force, not only to gratify himself, but to degrade the plaintiff.”
Ayala, a pioneer of Norteño music over a decades-long career as the leader of Ramón Ayala y Sus Bravos del Norte, is also named as a defendant in the case. He is accused of legal negligence for failing to stop his son’s conduct: “Despite knowledge of defendant Ayala Jr.’s ongoing behavior … defendants failed to intervene, supervise, discipline, or remove him from authority.”
In a statement posted to Instagram on Wednesday (Feb. 18), the elder Ayala said the allegation “deeply hurts my band, my fans, and my family” and that his legal team was “working to clarify the facts.” He also alluded to “those who act maliciously for financial gain.”
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“We live in a world where freedom of expression is for everyone,” Ayala said. “But unfortunately, in their eagerness to gain attention, recognition or financial gain, some people, without any basis, try to take advantage and tarnish the legacy of an artist who rose from nothing through humility, effort, and sacrifice.”
The lawsuit was filed by Tony Buzbee, a well-known Houston plaintiffs attorney who made headlines last year for filing more than 20 cases against Sean “Diddy” Combs. Jay-Z later sued Buzbee over one of those cases, claiming the attorney had tried to blackmail him with false claims of sexual abuse. That case was later dismissed by a judge.
Ayala, affectionately known as the King of the Accordion, announced the final tour of his 60-year career in 2024. The four-time Grammy winner’s albums Arriba El Norte (1991) and Antología De Un Rey (2004) reached No. 1 on Billboard‘s Regional Mexican Albums chart, and 12 of his songs entered the Hot Latin Songs tally.
In Tuesday’s lawsuit, the John Doe’s attorneys wrote that Ayala’s son “routinely exposed his genitals aboard the tour bus” and often “performed sexually suggestive acts toward subordinates.” On one specific occasion, he allegedly “deliberately and roughly touched plaintiff’s buttocks without consent.” The lawsuit adds that when Doe confronted him about the alleged abuse, Ayala Jr. dismissed it as “horseplay” and told him to “get over it.”
“The conduct described herein was not accidental, playful, or misunderstood,” the Doe’s attorneys write in the lawsuit. “It was intentional, sexual, non-consensual physical contact carried out by a supervisory authority against a subordinate employee.”
In technical terms, the lawsuit alleges assault and sexual assault, negligence and gross negligence against Ayala, Ayala Jr. and their touring company Liram LLC. The case is seeking at least $25 million in damages.
