New Orleans Pelicans player Zion Williamson is accused of raping his ex-girlfriend, according to a lawsuit.
In the complaint filed, the woman, identified as Jane Doe, claims she dated Williamson, 24, from 2018 to June 2023, according to the New York Post. The woman alleges Williamson raped her twice in 2020 and subjected her to ongoing sexual, physical, emotional, and financial abuse between 2020 and 2023.
The woman claims the first alleged rape happened on Nov. 23, 2020, at a Beverly Hills rental home, where she refused sex, prompting Williamson to call her “stuck up” and a “b****.”
He allegedly “pinned Plaintiff down on the bed with her hands behind her back and raped her.” Williamson also proceeded to take her phone away and choke her for “talking too much,” the complaint states.
Williams, though his attorney, denied that woman’s claims and called them “categorically false.”
According to the lawsuit, a second assault occurred a month later, after the woman informed the 2019 NBA first-round draft pick that she wanted to visit a friend. He allegedly “picked her up, threw her to the ground, and pinned her shoulders down so she could not move,” and then “violently raped Plaintiff in multiple ways.”
The woman claims Williamson proceeded to take her phone and computer so that she could not “contact anyone to secure a ride elsewhere, report the assault, or seek medical care.”
The lawsuit accuses Williamson of repeated abusive and threatening behavior in Louisiana and other states, including threats to have his armed security guard shoot her and kill her parents between 2020 and 2023 in Louisiana.
“Our client is very adamant about this — it’s not her desire or our desire to litigate this case in the press,” the woman’s attorney Sam Taylor told the New York Post.
“It’s a very serious case, as reflected in the allegations. Our client looks forward to her day in court where she can go and explain to a jury what happened to her, the things she endured for this defendant and getting justice,” he added.
Williamson's attorney, Michael A. Balascio, denied accusations in the lawsuit in a statement to The Independent.
"We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and we unequivocally deny them. The allegations contained in the complaint are categorically false and reckless," they wrote.
“Mr. Williamson and the plaintiff never dated, but did maintain a consensual, casual relationship that began more than six years ago, when he was 18 years old. That relationship ended years ago. At no point during or immediately after that relationship did the plaintiff raise any concerns. Only after the friendship ended did she begin demanding millions of dollars.
"Mr. Williamson reported the plaintiff's extortion attempts to law enforcement. We understand that an arrest warrant was issued in connection with that report, and we are prepared to provide the court with documentation that supports these facts. Mr. Williamson also intends to file counterclaims and seek significant damages for this defamatory lawsuit."
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