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Deshaun Watson Facing 13 Civil Lawsuits After 6 Additional Filings on Monday
March 22, 2021
Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson faces 13 civil lawsuits alleging sexual assault and other inappropriate conduct.
Per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle, Houston-based attorney Tony Buzbee filed five more lawsuits Monday with the Harris County District Attorney's Office. Later on Monday, a sixth lawsuit was filed.
ESPN's Sarah Barshop posted a partial copy of the 13th lawsuit that accuses Watson of assault and harassment by "touching her with his penis and exposing himself" in April 2020:
Sarah Barshop @sarahbarshopA 13th civil lawsuit has been filed against Deshaun Watson. Houston lawyer Tony Buzbee had previously said he would be filing 12 lawsuits and had been contacted by at least 10 more women with reports about similar conduct from Watson. This is the sixth lawsuit filed today. https://t.co/JvXe4KDmd1
Buzbee initially told reporters Friday he planned to file separate civil lawsuits against Watson on behalf of 12 different women who have accused the Texans star of sexual assault. At the time of that press conference, only seven lawsuits had been filed.
TMZ Sports reported on details from the six new lawsuits. The masseuse in the first lawsuit claims Watson acted inappropriately toward her on two different occasions between June and August 2020. She accused him of groping "her buttocks and vagina and then pushed her buttocks into his face" and "using his penis to touch [her] hand" during the first alleged encounter.
The woman also accused Watson of forcing her to perform oral sex on him during the second alleged meeting.
The second masseuse claimed Watson "put his penis on her hand" during a massage this month. She said she moved away from him, and he left after paying her.
Per Barshop, the third lawsuit involves an alleged encounter from January in which a massage therapist accuses Watson of "touching her with his penis and making sexually suggestive comments."
Barshop added that the fourth lawsuit "accuses Watson of harassing a massage therapist and exposing himself to the woman in August 2020."
Buzbee said during the press conference last week he has spoken to "more than 10 additional women" who have made accusations against Watson similar to what is being alleged in the lawsuits.
The first lawsuit against Watson was filed by Buzbee's law firm March 16. Six additional lawsuits were filed on Wednesday and Thursday of last week, bringing the total to seven at that point.
Per CBS Sports' John Breech, six of the first seven lawsuits noted Watson allegedly used Instagram to set up massage appointments with someone he had never worked with before.
After the first lawsuit was filed, Watson posted a statement on Twitter denying any wrongdoing:
"As a result of a social media post by a publicity-seeking plaintiff's lawyer, I recently became aware of a lawsuit that has apparently been filed against me. I have not yet seen the complaint, but I know this: I have never treated any woman with anything other than the utmost respect. The plaintiff's lawyer claims that this isn't about money, but before filing suit he made a baseless six-figure settlement demand, which I quickly rejected. Unlike him, this isn't about money for me–it's about clearing my name, and I look forward to doing that."
In a post on Instagram, Buzbee noted he would be "submitting affidavits and evidence from several women" to the Houston Police Department and Houston District Attorney on Monday about their alleged encounters with Watson.
The Houston Police Department said in a statement posted to Twitter on Friday that it was "unaware of any contact" between the department and Buzbee's firm regarding the allegations against Watson, "and no incident reports regarding these allegations have been filed in our jurisdiction."
Per NFL.com, the NFL informed the Texans it has opened an investigation into the accusations against Watson under the league's personal conduct policy.