Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson is currently facing seven lawsuits alleging sexual assault. The total number of complaints against the National Football League (NFL) star will increase to 12, according to Tony Buzbee, who is representing the accusers.
During a press conference on Friday, Buzbee said he will file the additional five sexual assault lawsuits against Deshaun Watson “in due course” after conducting “due diligence.”
Buzbee said he spoke to “more than 10 additional women” who came forward accusing the Houston Texan quarterback of sexual harassment and assault. Overall, 22 women reported that they experienced similar inappropriate conduct toward them by Deshaun Watson, according to the lawyer.
Additionally, Buzbee said they tried to resolve the allegations against Deshaun Watson without any publicity or lawsuit. However, his agent “minimized” the accusations and “did not take them seriously.”
“We wanted to resolve this matter without a lawsuit, without any publicity. We knew that once we filed a lawsuit — Texas, of course, has an open courts provision in the constitution, so all lawsuits are public. We wanted to avoid that. What we receive instead of cooperation with Mr. Watson’s agent was dismissive behavior and frankly incredible arrogance even after we had discussions with Mr. Watson’s lawyer at the time,” said Buzbee.
Deshaun Watson rejected a “baseless six-figure settlement demand”
Rusty Hardin, the attorney representing Deshaun Watson, issued a statement in response to Buzbee.
