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Tony Buzbee Says Browns' Deshaun Watson to Face 2 More Lawsuits, Bringing Total to 26
June 14, 2022
Attorney Tony Buzbee said Monday that two more women will file lawsuits against Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson, bringing the total to 26:
Josh Voight @JoshVoightNewsTony Buzbee tells me two more lawsuits will be filed against <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Browns?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Browns</a> quarterback Deshaun Watson. Per Buzbee, one case comes as a referral from an Atlanta lawyer. The second saw the HBO Real Sports coverage and came forward. <a href="https://twitter.com/WEWS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WEWS</a>
"We have vetted other calls but haven't yet made decisions on any further filings and will continue to do our due diligence consistent with our ethical obligations," Buzbee said in an email to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. "With regard to any impending filings, we will allow the facts of the cases to speak for themselves."
Watson has been accused of sexual assault or misconduct in the lawsuits. Though two separate grand juries in Texas declined to pursue criminal charges against Watson, both the lawsuits and the NFL's investigation are ongoing.
Earlier in June, Buzbee added Watson's former team, the Houston Texans, to the list of defendants in the lawsuits.
"What has become clear is that the Houston Texans organization and their contracting 'massage therapy company' facilitated Deshaun Watson’s conduct," he wrote on June 8. "In many of these cases, the Texans provided the opportunity for this conduct to occur. We believe the Texans organization was well aware of Watson's issues, but failed to act. They knew or certainly should have known. The Houston Texans organization provided rooms for Watson at the high-end Houstonian hotel for his 'massages;' the Texans also provided massage tables and other support for Watson's proclivities—ostensibly to protect their 'asset.'"
Watson's attorneys have said that he had sexual activity with three of the many massage therapists he contracted and that it was consensual and separate from the paid massages he received.
Despite the ongoing lawsuits and the NFL not yet reaching a conclusion to its investigation, the Cleveland Browns traded three first-round picks and other draft assets to the Texans this offseason to acquire Watson.
They then signed him to a five-year, fully guaranteed $230 million deal despite Watson still facing a potential suspension by the NFL.