Cleveland Brown’s quarterbackDeshaun Watson is in hot water yet again as a 24th lawsuit alleging Watson engaged in sexual misconduct was filed on Monday. The plaintiff Katy Williams alleges that Watson, in his second of two massage sessions in August 2020, exposed himself to her and performed a sexual act.
According to the lawsuit, Williams’ reason for coming forward at this point is due to comments made by Watson during his introductory Cleveland Browns press conference in March expressing his innocence. In his conference, Watson stated, “I don’t have any regrets. As I said, the things off the field right now that came up caught me by surprise because I never did anything that these people are alleging.” The lawsuit iterates, “He may, in fact, have no regrets, but he has certainly done wrong,”
As of today Watson’s attorney Rusty Hardin and the rest of his legal team have not responded to the new lawsuit. Hardin stated, “We are unable to respond to the new lawsuit at this time. Our legal team has not had time to investigate this new filing and had not heard her name until today. Deshaun continues to deny he did anything inappropriate with any of the plaintiffs.”
Watson continues to maintain that any sexual acts with the women have been consensual. Watson was not indicted on criminal charges by two grand juries. However, the NFL is still currently investigating whether or not Watson violated the league’s code of conduct policy. At the NFL’s Spring Meetings, Commissioner Roger Goodell said the investigation is nearing a close but a timeline for a decision has not been reached. Therefore, whether or not Watson will play in the 2022 season is still uncertain.
This offseason, Watson was traded to the Cleveland Browns and given a contract extension worth $230 million guaranteed. However, the first year of his contract is only worth $1 million as to stave off any suspension risks and financial loss from the team should Watson be suspended.
