Ex-Duke star's fiancée's mother speaks out after 'grooming' rumors emerge
The mother of the fiancée of one of the newest NBA players, Kyle Filipowski, is speaking out after internet rumors swirled about "Mormon grooming and brainwashing."
Filipowski starred at Duke for two seasons before being drafted by the Utah Jazz with the 32nd pick, but in the days leading up to the selection, wild allegations surrounding him came about.
A social media account on X, claiming to be Filipowski’s brother Daniel, alleged a story about Filipowski and his fiancée, Caitlin Hutchinson, had been swept under the rug for years.
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Kyle Filipowski, #30 of the Duke Blue Devils, reacts following a dunk against the Virginia Cavaliers at Cameron Indoor Stadium on March 2, 2024 in Durham, North Carolina. (Lance King/Getty Images)
Daniel urged another X user to "look up and read on Mormon grooming and brainwashing and you’ll find some intriguing details in there to connect some dots into the story that is going on here."
Daniel added his brother is a "victim" and a "perfect pawn and target for this girl's lifelong scheme."
The speculation is that Hutchinson used to babysit Filipowski (she is over six years older than him), as the two families are close, but they became romantic when he was a teenager. She even went to his senior prom.
The ordeal has apparently led to Filipowski not speaking with his family.
Hutchinson's mother, Amanda, says the couple is now lying low after the media "storm," adding that "there will be things forthcoming."
Kyle Filipowski, #30 of the Duke Blue Devils, moves the ball against DJ Burns Jr., #30 of the NC State Wolfpack, during the first half of the Elite 8 round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at American Airlines Center on March 31, 2024 in Dallas. (Lance King/Getty Images)
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"What we’ve always said to the kids is, for everything that’s good, if you have faith at all there will be adversaries, there's always a negative for every positive," she told The Daily Mail. "So it's how we weather those storms."
The New York Post pointed out that ESPN’s draft expert Jonathan Givony said on "The Lowe Post" podcast that NBA teams were "talking about" the age gap between Filipowski and his girlfriend.
"NBA teams are talking about the fact that they had question marks about his girlfriend being so much older than him, why was he estranged from his family because of this whole situation," Givony added on "NBA Today." "He apparently doesn’t talk to his parents or his brother, and It’s a very, very odd situation. I personally don’t understand why it would cause him to drop like this into the second round."
Kyle Filipowski arrives prior to the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft at Barclays Center on June 26, 2024 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
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More speculation has come out since his being drafted to Utah, but that could obviously just be an ironic coincidence.
Fox News' Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.
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