Karen Sypher: I Wanted Rick Pitino's Baby, He Forced Me to Have an Abortion

Karen Sypher, the woman who is accused of extorting Rick Pitino and is in turn accusing Pitino of sexually assaulting her and encouraging her to get an abortion, has begun speaking out publicly about what she says Pitino did to her.

Sypher and Pitino agree on a few things: That the two met in a Louisville restaurant on August 1, 2003, that they had sexual intercourse on a table in the restaurant that night, that Pitino gave Sypher money a couple weeks later, and that Sypher had an abortion.

Beyond that, the two sides couldn't be further apart. Sypher is attempting to portray Pitino as a rapist who used threats to force her to have the abortion, while Pitino and his lawyers are portraying Sypher as a vicious liar who is facing criminal extortion charges for trying to get money out of Pitino.

In an interview with the New York Post, Sypher was adamant that she did not want to have an abortion, but that Pitino's threats against her family led her to conclude she had no choice but to have the abortion:

"I'll never forget. I wanted to have the baby, but Rick said my children would all be in concrete. I lived in fear for five years," she said.

"I prayed to God, 'Please, I don't want this.' When they called my name [at the clinic], I stood up."

Sypher was not married when she met Pitino, and her name at the time was Karen Cunagin. She later married Pitino's Louisville equipment manager, Tim Sypher, and they are now getting divorced. Karen Sypher says she now believes the whole marriage was set up by Pitino to get her off his back. Pitino's lawyers say Karen is delusional:

"This woman is incapable of telling the truth," said Pitino's lawyer, Steve Pence. "She is extremely deceitful, and in many ways disturbed."

Sypher provided the New York Post with medical records from her abortion, including paperwork showing she checked off boxes indicating she felt "confident" and "strong" that she was doing the right thing, and that she did not think abortion was murder or that she would not regret having an abortion.

That seems to call into question her claims that Pitino coerced her into having the abortion, but she insists that's how she feels now. Holding up the ultrasound picture taken from the day of her abortion, she told the Post, "This is all I have of the baby."

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)

8-14-2009 @ 12:53PM

eze486 said...

the whole situation is outrageous. sex on a restaurant table? what's up with that? couldn't go to a classy hotel....or even a car? this situation makes me realize pitino has probably been playing loose with the gooseneck for quite a while.....as far as the abortion....that didn't need to come out but I certainly hope uniiversity of louisville weighs it all....the world really is a screwed up place

8-14-2009 @ 6:00PM

drew2218 said...

You think sex in a car is better than on a restaurant table? I'm sure it was after the restaurant was closed. How is in a car better? Maybe for a college kid.

8-14-2009 @ 6:22PM

tcravenna said...

Another gold digging slut. Some women will do anything for money and publicity.

8-14-2009 @ 1:11PM

smartmonee said...

she should have had the baby,instead she chose to have an abortion.they are both very weak people,sex on a table isnt that big a deal,wish i knew the bottle of wine they were drinking.must have some magical love power. bet it wasnt that 2 buck chuck.

8-14-2009 @ 5:16PM

Elizabeth said...

You don't know anything about what happened so don't assume anything.

8-14-2009 @ 2:17PM

jbraidedbeauty1 said...

sex on a restaurant table is just tacky and no class at all.. where do they get these people from and these are suppose to be role models???? I dont think so!!!

8-14-2009 @ 2:25PM

stonykey said...

Rick Pitino, like alot of coaches and athletes, thought that he was 'bulletproof'. He figured he could get away with anything, then when a pregnancy screwed (no pun intended) his plan up...he had to use threats and coercion. I hope he gets what he has coming to him!

8-14-2009 @ 2:33PM

sharffj said...

hohohohohohohohohohohohoho

8-14-2009 @ 2:41PM

ksanpool said...

Either the story is fishy or the timeline is wrong. They have sex on a table one night and a couple of weeks later she knows she is pregnant and gets an ultrasound to prove that she is "2 weeks pregnant" and needs money for an abortion. Makes no sense to me, unless she already knew she was pregnant and was trying to set him up. Just a thought. And she waits until she is charged with trying to extort money from the coach to all of a sudden be so distraught. Two wrongs do not make a right, but she sounds nutty!

8-14-2009 @ 3:32PM

kathryn said...

if u miss your period doing those two weeks u know something aint right, it doesnt always signal pregnacy, but most women know their bodies, its posible if he was the only one she had been with. the article didnt say she had the ultra sound at 2 weeks, we dont know how many weeks she was when she had the abortion. she might have put it off until she decided or gave in. we dont know which one is tlling the truth, they both did wrong so we cant put one over the other, but, she wasnt married at the time, he was, it was his rewponsibility to protect his mariage.

8-14-2009 @ 2:53PM

medicaloffice5 said...

Rick you ARE my hero!
we all are where we are because of decisions we made, NOT someone else...

8-14-2009 @ 3:01PM

MeritaBread said...

Cry me a river! K. Sypher, you did what YOU wanted to do! Personally, I am anti-abortion, but Roe v, Wade gave WOMEN the choice. You CHOSE to abort that baby and now, six years later, you are bemoaning your choice. Sure, you kept the records of an abortion; the evidence; but was R. Pitino and/or his henchmen there to make sure you went through with it? I think not! Get over it! Move on! If you ask God for forgiveness of your sin, he will freely do so. But you still have to answer to the laws of the land for the attempted extortion. There is no excuse for that. I Timothy 1:8-9 says, "But we know that the law is good if a man use it lawfully; knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,..." It is no longer against the laws of the land to commit adultery. But it IS against the law to commit extortion. K. Sypher, you wallowed in the dirt and got muddy. You cannot now cleanse yourself by slinging mud at the person with whom you wallowed. You're both dirty. But your slinging mud draws attention to you as well as Pitino. Avail yourself of the protections that the law does afford you in this country. But do so quietly please. Nothing you say makes you look good. Think of your live children and the shame and embarrassment they must now feel.

8-14-2009 @ 3:10PM

Joey said...

People like her take advantage of a situation, like him being drunk and out of sight of his wife, and then make life hell for the dude when she can't shake him down for what she wants. Years later, she then tries to ruin him. There are a lot of people like her, I am sure we all know some.

8-14-2009 @ 3:52PM

mif991 said...

Absolutely right Joey. They do exist everywhere, and they are so emotionally disturbed they cannot see truth or recognize reality. As for Rick, he is now the poster child of stupid married men who fall for a gold digger. No way he will do a good job at Louiville this season, too many distractions to deal with and the media will only want to talk about this.

8-15-2009 @ 1:20AM

anitakayreed said...

It amuses me when people(usually males)want to blame women when married males are not being MEN by being honest and faithful to their wives! It was RICK'S responsibility to stay away from ALL other women. HE made a VOW to HIS WIFE! Then Karen, or any other "evil" woman, would not be able to be "vitimize" him by being a "gold-digger" or whatever all of you people want to call her. And, being drunk and out of sight of his wife is no excuse for cheating! If he can't handle his liquor, he shouldn't drink. If he can't be around women - away from his wife - without jumping them on a restaurant table, he needs to grow up and learn some self control. If he can't handle that then he needs to stay home!
The only thing Karen Sypher did wrong was not getting far away from Rick Pitino before he pressured HER and manipulated HER into aborting their child!

onenycutey said...

Abortion is another invention that was created by men so they had an out when they knocked someone up and then didn't want to be a father in the end. Women should be told how emotionally scaring abortion is and that they will carry that guilt for the rest of their lives. If Obama has his way - any woman can have an abortion paid for at taxpayers expense! Anyone who voted for that commie schmuck and says they're anti-abotion are a bunch of hipocrites!! End abortion now!!

8-14-2009 @ 3:38PM

few people know much about the health care bill that president obama is trying to get smart americans to be in favor. that is not true what u are saying about abortion and tax payers. people are just reacting to republican scare tactics and listening to crazy rush and many get their news from them which is all wrong. all many of u know about the bill is that republicans and rush is against it, what a surpise!

8-14-2009 @ 5:24PM

You know nothing of abortion and guilt so don't "make things up". Stop calling Obama a "commie" as he is nothing of the sort. You believe the rumors that he is creating a socialist country. There ARE many socialist programs already in this country. Which would you like to give up first? How about clean water? Or Education? Or roads, bridges, tunnels, train stations/tracks, airports, libraries? I'm sure you'd like to pay out of your own pocket to fix the pot holes on your street? Get smart.

8-14-2009 @ 9:19PM

Larry said...

Her story has more holes than a piece of Swiss cheese. Her counter claims even IF TRUE, have nothing to do with the fact she engaged in extortion, a felony. She's just making a plea for sympathy with potential jurors.

The $3,000 dollars he gave is well beyond the cost of a simple D & C and backs his claim it was for health insurance.