Steelers' Antonio Brown's response to lawsuits against him: 'It comes from having fame'

In his first pubic interaction with media since it became public that he’s facing two civil lawsuits filed against him, Antonio Brown in part blamed his status as an NFL All Pro for the negative attention he receives.

“It comes from being successful, it comes from being in the spotlight, it comes from having fame,” the Pittsburgh Steelers receiver said after practice Friday. “If I was a nobody, you guys wouldn’t be here speculating to begin with.”

Brown was named in a lawsuit filed in Florida in August by Ophir Sternberg , the CEO and founding partner of Miami-based Lionheart Capital, LLC. Sternberg is seeking damages in connection to claims that furniture thrown from a 14th-floor balcony by Brown nearly struck a Sternberg’s father and his 22-month-old son.

The suit, filed in Miami-Dade County, claims the incident left the toddler “severely traumatized.” It also states that Brown’s rage was fueled by the alleged theft of $80,000 from his closet.

A second lawsuit was filed by the landlord of the luxury apartment and seeks in excess of $15,000 for damages to the apartment.

“I can’t discuss pending litigation,” Brown said Friday. “I just look forward to my day in court.”

Brown first publicly acknowledged the lawsuits in a statement released Thursday in which he said “The facts will soon come out that prove my innocence. My focus will remain on football and I will not let the cases serve as a distraction.”

The league has said it is monitoring the litigation against Brown .

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Chris Adamski is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Chris at cadamski@tribweb.com or via Twitter @C_AdamskiTrib.