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The bizarre allegations about a Texas coach's emotional support monkey, explained

Welcome to FTW Explains, a guide to catching up on and better understanding stuff going on in the world. You may have seen some stuff on social media about a Texas coach and allegations about a monkey biting a child. Let’s break it down.

A Texas assistant coach’s partner appears to have deleted her Twitter account after responding to allegations the couple’s emotional support monkey bit a trick-or-treater at their home over Halloween weekend. 

The drama started Monday night when Texas sports photographer and former USA Today stringer Tom Campbell tweeted a report alleging the family’s monkey attacked a child at their home Sunday night.

Danielle Thomas, girlfriend of University of Texas tight ends coach and special teams coordinator Jeff Banks, took it upon herself to respond to the allegations as the story spread rapidly on Twitter. It wasn’t long before Twitter absolutely erupted.

Let’s dive into these allegations and explain what’s going on here.

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Uh ... what?

OK, so, according to a Nextdoor screenshot also shared by Campbell, Thomas invited neighbors to their home Halloween night, entertaining kids with a haunted house and maze at their home and a traditional party for adults.

Did Jeff and Danielle Banks' monkey actually bite a child?

While the allegations suggest the Bankses’ monkey injured a trick-or-treater, Thomas was quick to dispel rumors of an aggressive attack. However, she did acknowledge an incident involving a child and the family’s pet (as seen in the screenshot above).

Thomas claimed in a now-deleted video posted Monday night the family’s monkey was caged in a gated area behind the home no one was allowed to access.

“I don’t even play when it comes to my animals and I know all the legal rules on them,” Thomas said in the video while showing a do-not-enter/no-touching sign on the gate. “How could she viciously bite someone if they don’t stick their hand in there where it don’t belong? This is her home and her home only … Don’t touch. No one’s allowed back here without my permission.”

Why did Danielle delete her Twitter account?

As the original tweet about the alleged attack went viral, Thomas defended her family on Twitter and used the aforementioned video to show the distance and barriers between the haunted house and the area where she kept the family’s monkey.

While we don’t know her reasons for deleting the account, her tweets could be used as evidence should the alleged incident wind up in court.

What, or who, is "Pole Assassin?"

Part of why this story blew up the way it did, other than the whole awful “pet monkey allegedly bit a child” thing, is due to the salacious fascination with Thomas’ career as an exotic dancer, which once landed her national recognition as a guest on the Jerry Springer show.

While the term “pole assassin” is part of her Instagram username (and former Twitter username), it’s unclear as to whether this was, in fact, a stage name or simply a nickname related to her performing career. And though there are photos circulating of Thomas and a monkey performing together, we don’t know if it’s the same monkey involved in the allegations. (She appears to have Instagram accounts devoted to the monkey and the family’s other pets.)

That didn’t stop Twitter users from getting their jokes off.

An earlier version of this article referred to Danielle Thomas as Danielle Banks. While she uses Banks’ name on some social media apps, it’s unclear whether they are married. 

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