In a case dribbling with irony, a former basketball star and prominent lawyer honored by the Obama White House for campaigning to stop violence against women is now facing charges of stalking and beating his own girlfriend, and then preventing her from reporting him.
The New York Post called it a “secret terror campaign,” reporting: “Cody McDavis, who played basketball at the University of Northern Colorado before studying law at UCLA and becoming an associate at Los Angeles firm Vedder Price, was even profiled in Sports Illustrated for his efforts to have the NCAA ban students with a history of violence from playing sports.
“But on July 20, McDavis was charged with six felony and three misdemeanor counts accusing him of undertaking a yearlong campaign of violence and intimidation against his girlfriend between July 2025 and June 2026, according to a complaint filed in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.
“Prosecutors allege the 32-year-old ‘willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly’ followed and harassed his girlfriend, leaving her in fearing for the safety of herself and her immediate family.”
The arraignment for McDavis is scheduled for Sept. 2, with a bail recommendation of $550,000.
The 6-foot-8 attorney had been widely praised for his efforts fighting sexual violence, including a White House Champion of Change award from Barack Obama for helping the “It’s On Us” campaign.
The @WhiteHouse honored AZ native Cody McDavis today for addressing sexual assault in universities. @cronkitenews pic.twitter.com/aOLFJTQyQw
— Kate Bieri (@KateBieri) April 14, 2016
At the 2019 Voices of Solidarity event to honor men confronting gender-based violence, McDavis said in his acceptance speech: “The women in here who are doing this incredible work are told and told and told we want to hear your voice, but when you start talking, you get shoved down.”
“That makes me sick, I can’t stand that.”
McDavis also promoted a ban on student-athletes with a history of violence, sparking a Change.org petition that collected more than 280,000 signatures in 2019.
He write in that petition: “My name is Cody McDavis. I am a former Division I student-athlete and the prevalence of sexual violence in college athletics makes me sick. That’s why I’m calling on the Power Five Conference Commissioners – the most influential conferences in the NCAA – to immediately ban student-athletes with a history of violence.”
Ryan Hettinger is tonights captain for the @unco_mbb. Getting some pre-game coaching from Cody McDavis #GoUNCBears pic.twitter.com/kCcEaZEvUP
— UNC Athletics (@UNC_Bears) January 9, 2015
McDavis has hot-shot defense attorney Shawn Holley on his legal side, who was part of O.J. Simpson’s famous “Dream Team,” and also provided counsel to Lindsay Lohan, Kanye West and Justin Bieber.
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