New Orleans Pelicans star forward Zion Williamson was accused of rape and domestic violence in a lawsuit filed in the late hours of May 29 in Los Angeles Superior Court by an unnamed woman who dated Williamson starting when he was a freshman at Duke University in 2018.
According to The Athletic, the woman, who filed as a Jane Doe, alleges that Williamson repeatedly hit and kicked her, repeatedly raped her, and made her fear for her life several times before the relationship eventually ended in 2023.
She also alleged in the lawsuit that Williamson engaged in a pattern of “abusive, controlling, and threatening behavior.” The woman is seeking an unspecified amount of damages from Williamson.
ESPN also reported that the 12-page civil complaint describes incidents in multiple states, including California and Louisiana and describes accusations of strangulation carried out “with such force that she reasonably feared for her life and eventually lost consciousness multiple times.”
Williamson issued a denial of the allegations through his attorneys, Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver, L.L.C., who also called into question the nature of their relationship, calling it a consensual and casual relationship.
“We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and we unequivocally deny them. The allegations contained in the complaint are categorically false and reckless….This appears to be an attempt to exploit a professional athlete driven by a financial motive rather than any legitimate grievance,” his attorneys maintained in a statement.
They also indicated that they believe the lawsuit is part of a plot to extort Williamson, saying in the statement that they have “reported the plaintiff’s extortion attempts to law enforcement” and indicating that Williamson “intends to file counterclaims and seek significant damages for this defamatory lawsuit.”
The attorneys, however, did not respond to a request from The Athletic to give them more information about their communications with law enforcement.
Per Sam Taylor, a lawyer for the Jane Doe, the response from Williamson’s attorneys contained “numerous misrepresentations” and refuted the characterization of the lawsuit as an extortion attempt.
Taylor also told the outlet that his client and Williamson previously attempted a formal mediation ahead of the lawsuit’s filing, but were unable to agree to terms.
“This is a very serious case as reflected in the allegations in the complaint, which are pretty detailed. We look forward to the day that our client can get this case to trial and let a jury decide who is credible and who is not credible. This is a major undertaking. She knew what he was going to say about her.” Taylor told The Athletic.
According to the lawsuit, after Williamson was drafted number one overall by the Pelicans in 2019, he raped her in September 2020 after he moved to Beverly Hills, California.
Per the complaint, his driver picked her up at a hotel and drove her to his home, and when Williamson arrived that night, he told her she couldn’t go to sleep unless he had sex with her first.
After she refused, Williamson allegedly pinned Jane Doe down and raped her, which she said he repeated several weeks later.
According to the lawsuit, the physical and sexual abuse continued through 2023 and he allegedly threatened to leak nude videos and photos he had taken of the woman without her consent to keep her in the relationship.
Per the lawsuit, the woman suffered “severe emotional distress, anxiety, depression, humiliation, loss of sleep, and other physical and emotional injuries” because of the actions of Williamson, which Taylor says led her to seek counseling since the termination of their relationship.
Williamson’s attorneys remained confident, despite the serious nature of the allegations, asserting in their statement that their client would be vindicated.
“While these allegations are false, we recognize the seriousness of the claims and welcome the opportunity to prove the truth in court. We are confident that the legal process will expose the truth and fully vindicate Mr. Williamson,” they stated.
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