'Riverdance' star countersues woman who accused him of rape

LOS ANGELES -- Former "Riverdance" star Michael Flatley filed a $100 million countersuit against a woman who alleges he raped her in a Las Vegas hotel.

In the suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday, Flatley accused the woman of attempting to extort money from him by claiming a consensual one-night stand last fall was a sexual assault.

"We filed the lawsuit because what this lady did was outrageous," said his lawyer, Burt Fields. "It will do tremendous damage to Mr. Flatley."

Flatley filed the suit after first taking his case to the FBI, Fields said.

Calls seeking comment from the woman's lawyer, D. Dean Mauro, were not immediately returned Thursday. Mauro has said she met the 44-year-old dance star at an event in Las Vegas in September.

The woman filed a $35 million suit against Flatley on Tuesday in Illinois. The charges stem from her October visit to Flatley in Las Vegas, where he stars in the show, "Lord of the Dance." She says the Irish dance performer raped her Oct. 19 in his suite at the Venetian Resort Hotel-Casino.

The woman reported the alleged incident to police but declined to press charges, according to Las Vegas police Lt. Jeff Carlson.