Cincinnati Bengals offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr. is facing a civil lawsuit from his former girlfriend, Holly Means, who alleges the NFL veteran refused to return personal belongings following the end of their relationship.

Means is seeking at least $25,000 in damages and claims Brown’s actions amounted to civil theft, according to court documents reported by TMZ.

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The dispute centers on property Means says remained in Brown’s possession after the couple separated in June 2025.

According to Means’ allegations, she was forced to leave the Ohio home she shared with Brown and their two children without enough opportunity to collect her possessions.

She claims some of those belongings were subsequently moved to locations in Oklahoma and Kansas City, both places with significant connections to Brown’s football career.

Means also alleges she attempted to retrieve her property in January 2026 with police assistance. She claims Brown did not answer the door during that encounter, leaving her unable to collect the items.

The former couple’s dispute has now moved from a private breakup into a legal battle, with Means arguing that Brown has deliberately prevented her from recovering her possessions.

She claims Brown is acting out of “anger and spite” over the breakup and her decision to move with their two children to Oregon.

Brown, however, has rejected that characterization. His position is that Means arrived at his home without notice after he had asked her not to do so, and that she left her belongings behind after their relationship ended. The competing accounts mean the central allegations remain disputed.

A personal dispute involving a key Bengals player

Means and Brown became publicly linked in 2019 and later welcomed two sons, Orlando Brown III in 2021 and Sonny Brown in 2023. Means is known professionally as a fashion influencer.

Brown’s football career has continued to progress despite the personal dispute.

The 6-foot-8 offensive tackle entered the NFL as a third-round pick by the Baltimore Ravens in 2018. He spent his first three seasons in Baltimore before joining the Kansas City Chiefs in a major 2021 trade.

Brown became a key part of Kansas City’s offensive line and helped the Chiefs win Super Bowl LVII following the 2022 season.

He then entered free agency and signed with Cincinnati in 2023 on a four-year, $64.09 million contract.

The Bengals have since continued to view Brown as an important part of their offensive infrastructure. This offseason, Cincinnati agreed to a two-year, $32 million extension that keeps him under contract through the 2028 season.

The deal includes a $14 million signing bonus and $3 million in annual per-game roster bonuses.

That commitment came after Brown started all 17 games for Cincinnati in 2025. According to the Bengals’ official media guide, he played all 1,110 offensive snaps during the regular season, underlining his importance to the team’s protection of its quarterbacks.

Brown has also remained confident in the Bengals’ offensive line. Earlier this offseason, he described Cincinnati’s pass-protection unit as the best in the NFL, with keeping quarterback Joe Burrow upright among the team’s biggest priorities.

For now, however, Brown’s latest challenge has nothing to do with protecting Burrow.

The civil theft case concerns a deeply personal dispute over property, the circumstances surrounding the couple’s separation and the whereabouts of Means’ belongings.

Brown has denied the accusations, meaning the allegations in the lawsuit should not be treated as established facts.

The legal proceedings will determine what happened and whether Brown bears civil liability.

In the meantime, the case adds an unexpected off-field storyline for one of Cincinnati’s most important players as the Bengals prepare for another season with Brown protecting Burrow’s blind side.