Deshaun Watson and his legal team are fighting back.
After the majority of the cases against him had to be re-filed with the accusers identity revealed, the Houston Texans QB and his team of lawyers were ready to fight back.
On Monday, they dropped their answer to the allegations and promptly called out the multiple women on their multiple lies.
“Since March 16, 2021, when the first of twenty-two lawsuits was filed against Deshaun Watson (“Mr. Watson”), he has been adamant that he did not engage in any of the improper conduct that has been alleged. At the same time, he and his defense team have insisted that they adamantly oppose, condemn, and disapprove of any type of sexual misconduct against women.
Legitimate claims should be reported to authorities, taken seriously, and their proponents treated respectfully. However, in the few days since Mr. Watson has learned the identity of his accusers, his legal team has already uncovered evidence that numerous allegations in this onslaught of cases are simply not true or accurate. For example:
- After the massage therapy sessions with Mr. Watson, 8 plaintiffs bragged about, praised, and were excited about massaging Mr. Watson;
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- 7 plaintiffs willingly worked or offered to work with Mr. Watson after their alleged incidents;
- 3 plaintiffs lied about the number of sessions they actually had with Mr. Watson;
- 3 plaintiffs lied about their alleged trauma and resulting harm;
- 5 plaintiffs told others they wanted to get money out of Mr. Watson; and
- 5 plaintiffs have scrubbed or entirely deleted their social media accounts.
It was not until the plaintiffs saw an opportunity for a money grab that they changed their stories to convert therapy sessions they bragged about to friends and family to something much more nefarious.
Innocent questions about whether the therapists were comfortable with the therapy Mr. Watson sought evolved into sexual inuendo that the plaintiffs used to bolster their claims for money. For example, in the first lawsuit filed, Plaintiff Ashley Solis implies that Mr. Watson’s question—asking if she “was comfortable with certain areas [his) organization is making him get worked on” was somehow sexually suggestive.
That same question, however, posed to a therapist not seeking to exploit Mr. Watson, was perceived as it was intended: a legitimate therapeutic inquiry. Ms. Solis’s skewed perception of Mr. Watson’s legitimate and innocent query became a prototype for the assembly line of similar allegations in subsequent lawsuits.
These lawsuits are replete with mischaracterizations of Mr. Watson’s conduct. These range from being misleading, to fraudulent, to slanderous. Importantly, only two of the twenty-two lawsuits allege that Mr. Watson forced any type of sexual activity—an allegation Mr. Watson again vehemently denies.
And even at this early stage of the litigation, the evidence obtained by the defense clearly supports Mr. Watson’s denial of these allegations of force. As Plaintiff Sheneé Lawson’s business manager put it, this is “not extortion. It’s blackmail.” Unfortunately, twenty- one other women have decided to join her.
Addressing the media Friday, Texans general manager Nick Caserio said the team will “respect the legal process” as it relates to Watson. He mentioned that the focus remains on the 2021 NFL Draft, which is under two weeks away.
“I would say, I really don’t have any comment,” Caserio said, via NFL.com. “I know Cal [McNair] and ownership put a letter out a few weeks ago relative to the organizational stance, relative to where we are. I don’t have anything to add other than its legal process and we respect the legal process and where that is. We’re focused on today, we’re focused on getting ready for the offseason program and getting ready for the draft, so that’s where our focus is.”
