On Wednesday evening, a woman on Facebook accused UFC flyweight contender Ashlee Evans-Smith of stealing a basket of medical supplies that were intended for donation (see the full story here).
The woman stated that Evans-Smith and he boyfriend were collecting a piece of furniture (per an agreed upon arrangement), and took the medical supplies along with it. She added that the UFC fighter did not respond to any of her followup messages and blocked her shortly thereafter.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani on Thursday, Evans-Smith gave her side of the story.
She says she didn’t look inside the basket before driving off with it. She added that she later returned the basket — though he accuser claims some items were still missing — and announced that she’ll be donating to a hospital as a gesture.
See what she had to say below:
Ashlee Evans-Smith says she didn’t look inside the basket before taking it. Gave everything back. Will be making a donation to a hospital. #HelwaniShow pic.twitter.com/yev4UI6hwA
— Jed I. Goodman (@jedigoodman) March 26, 2020
“Well the fact the of the matter is, I can’t change that now, but we didn’t [look inside the basket],” Evans-Smith said. “We were out doing errands. We were in London a few days prior getting ready for my fight. Meanwhile everyone back in the states were stockpiling on toilet paper on food and getting their house ready for a questionable situation. Honestly, I grabbed the basket, went to the store, did grocery shopping, drove another hour. So hours later is when I actually realized what was in the basket.
“When we realized what was in the basket, I messaged that woman Carmen and said I will gladly give these items back. I’m not a thief and I’m definitely not going to steal from medical workers that are risking their lives. That’s it.”
Ashlee Evans-Smith then refuted her accuser’s claim that she and her boyfriend kept some items from the basket, and divulged her plan for a donation.
“She thinks that we kept something,” Evans-Smith said. “My boyfriend just got off the phone with her. Whether she thinks we kept something or we dropped something in the rain that night, we already made an agreement that we’re going to make a donation in he name to a hospital. Because what more can we do? We can’t give back something we didn’t take.”
What do you think of this response from Ashlee Evans-Smith?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 3/26/2020.