The first of 22 women to file a sexual assault and harassment lawsuit against Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson spoke out on Tuesday. Ashley Solis shared her experience as a woman who is now struggling in her profession in the aftermath of the alleged assault.
Soon after the presser was over, Deshaun Watson’s lawyer, Rusty Hardin, sent out a statement as well as an email chain he likely should’ve looked over as he tried to make the accuser look bad.
The email chain claimed Buzbee sought $100,000 to settle Solis’ allegations just one month before he filed her suit.
“Mr. Buzbee himself repeatedly claimed that the litigation he filed on behalf of other Jane Does ‘isn’t about money,’” Hardin said. “In fact, according to the documentation below, Mr. Buzbee sought $100,000 in hush money.”
Watson’s team refused to pay, but noted that they wanted to know the “rationale behind the $100k demand or come back with a different figure.”
“Following on my call last week with Cornelia, wanted to check in on this to see if Ms. Solis wanted to either help us understand the rationale behind the $100k demand or come back with a different figure. As I said to Cornelia last week, we don’t believe that the alleged facts show that Deshaun did anything wrong with regards to Ms. Solis, but we are nevertheless happy to continue the conversation around a reasonable settlement figure because we believe he can learn a lesson about having put himself in this situation.”
Basically, Watson’s team was willing to pay a lower number which would ultimately teach him a lesson for putting himself in this situation. That is not a good look.
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Buzbee recalled how Solis came to him a few months ago, prompting him to at first discourage her from coming forward because he knew there would be a public reaction. But after he filed the lawsuit on March 16, another 21 women approached him with cases.
About a week after the first lawsuit was filed, Solis penned an Instagram post that said she was “taking a break from social media for mental health.”
