Michael Flatley Fights Back

(AP)  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. Even when he wins the case, some people will still believe the accusations."

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. Mauro said Flatley invited her to visit him for a day of sightseeing, shopping and gambling.

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 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.

Fields said that about two months after the woman and Flatley spent the night together, a lawyer contacted him, saying she would tell the public Flatley had raped her if he did not pay her.

Flatley was the original star of "Riverdance" and helped choreograph the show but left the production in 1996.