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Sexual Assault Suits Against Watson

Deshaun Watson’s lawyer Rusty Hardin is taking preemptive shots at Real Sports’ coverage of Watson
"I believe they’ll air the accusations of the women without attempting to look behind it to see what kind of merit do they have."
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Deshaun Watson lawyer Rusty Hardin.

By Andrew Bucholtz on 05/23/2022


There’s usually a period of time between when a player or organization learns of an upcoming journalistic piece that could have negative implications for them (they sometimes find out from hearing of other interviews, and sometimes find out when they’re contacted for comment) and when that piece goes public. There are several approaches to using that time from a public relations standpoint. The one we most often see is the player or team preparing a statement in response based on what they think the final piece might be, then modifying and releasing it once they see the final piece; this allows for a quicker response than starting from scratch after viewing that piece. Another approach is preparing a statement, then putting it out as soon as that piece goes live without reading the final piece. This makes for a quicker turnaround, but can carry the potential of having to backtrack, as happened to the Mets last year.

The most aggressive approach is preemptively discussing that piece before seeing its content. That’s what Cleveland Browns’ quarterback Deshaun Watson’s lawyer Rusty Hardin (known for past representation of Roger Clemens, Adrian Peterson, Wade Boggs, and many other athletes) is doing ahead of HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel airing a piece Tuesday that will see several of Watson’s accusers sit with correspondent Soledad O’Brien for their first national interview. Here’s what Hardin told Mary Kay Cabot of The Cleveland Plain Dealer as part of a larger piece on Watson that was published Friday:

“I don’t know what it’s going to be like, but I’m not optimistic,” he said. “I believe they’ll air the accusations of the women without attempting to look behind it to see what kind of merit do they have.”
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This kind of preemptive downplaying comes with pros and cons as a PR strategy. A potential downside is making more people aware of the upcoming report, which can be particularly negative if that report winds up being devastating. This isn’t as big of a factor in this specific case for two reasons, though: one, this is already a high-profile national report that’s going to draw plenty of attention in its own right, so Hardin’s comments aren’t likely to add that many viewers, and two, Hardin is making these comments to a single reporter (and possibly even in response to a question about it) as part of a larger conversation around Watson, not holding a press conference specifically to blast HBO. And the potential upside for the party being reported on is this can set expectations very high for what’s to come, and anything less than outright bombshells can sometimes get shrugged off as a result (and shrugged off more than it might have been if the report had come out without a preemptive defense).
THE REST OF THE STORY
 
Texian said:
Just thinking out loud here...wondering if 31 other NFL owners have sent a message to Commissioner Goodell to send a very painful message to Jimmy Haslam for the outrageous fully guaranteed contract he gave Watson? Will the HBO Special be enough to justify a 1-year suspension? Would Goodell have the cojones to go full Trevor Bauer suspension on DeShaun Watson, Cortesia 31 NFL owners?
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Perhaps Thirty did but I doubt the Texans as that GTD $ got them the package for DW they agreed to.
 
Here are is a summary of what he said:
Interesting interview from Rusty Hardin on this podcast
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podca...in-on-all-things/id1525109223?i=1000563325542
  • Confirms 3 cases where sexual activity occurred (oral sex).
  • 2/3 women Deshaun had sex with had their cases presented to the grand jury. The Grand jury returned no bill on those 2 cases.
  • The 3rd was not presented to the DA. This 3rd woman allegedly tried to shake down Watson for $30K in hush money to keep quiet.
  • No bill means there is no probable cause that criminal conduct occurred for both possible felony and misdemeanor charges
  • One grand jury in Harris County rejected 9 and another grand jury in Brazoria county rejected 1 for 10 total no bills
  • Hardin believes that the first two allegations of forcible sexual assault present the greatest threat to Watson when it comes to NFL punishment, but believes the grand jury's no bill on those cases will help NFL find no fault with Watson.
  • Doesn't have any complaints about the NFL investigation process so far. NFL spent 3 days with Watson and they are waiting for the decision in June or July.
  • Once Hardin finally got Buzbee to name the accusers, Hardin pushed them to file a formal complaint. He was that sure of Deshaun's innocence.
  • Confirms that Stephen Ross (owner of the Dolphins) almost signed Watson if Watson agreed to settle and had everyone sign an NDA. The deal would've happened if at that time 2 women didn't disagree to sign an NDA.
  • Alleges that Buzbee wants the women to sign NDAs so that it never becomes public how little they are going to get in the settlement.
  • Calls the media mouthpieces that just regurgitate whatever Buzbee says without ever looking into it.
  • Doesn't believe the commissioner exempt list will be used
  • The USA Today reporter (Brent Schrotenboer) that wrote the story about Watson testifying to a woman crying at the end of a massage got the leak from Buzbee who wasn't even at the deposition. Buzbee called Brent and verbally told him his version of the deposition. The reporter runs with it and creates the story.
  • Says that nobody in the media wants to challenge the veracity of allegations made in cases of sexual assault.
  • Says Buzbee has no allegiance to truth and uses the media to his advantage that doesn't do the work to verify the accusations.
  • Says allegations don't hold up in a "searching type atmosphere."
  • The women didn't tell anybody for a year. They did not report to law enforcement. They did not object during the massage session to what was happening except for one woman (the teary-eyed woman) who left during the massage with 5 minutes left saying she was uncomfortable with massaging the areas that Deshaun wanted and he was OK with her ending the massage early. Hardin maintains that the request for this massage was common and not of a sexual nature.
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1529159480130383879

https://twitter.com/x/status/1529162059996401664

Watson Discipline Is Near
NFL investigators spent time last week with Watson, indicating that the end of the 14-month investigation into his conduct is near.

In my experiences with NFL personal conduct cases, the last interview from the league has almost always been with the accused. After interviewing Watson, Lisa Friel, who conducts investigations for the NFL, will report her findings. A disciplinary officer, a former judge jointly appointed by the NFL and the NFLPA will issue discipline, with any appeal to be heard by—you guessed it—NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Under the new CBA, he is no longer “judge, jury and executioner.” Now he is more simply the “appellate judge.”

As I have said repeatedly in this space, I expect a long suspension for Watson. There is NFL precedent under this commissioner of six-game suspensions for both Ben Roethlisberger and Ezekiel Elliott for sexual misconduct with one woman each. I would expect a six-game suspension to be the minimum given to Watson.

Watson may suffer by not playing but, as previously discussed, the Browns have truly minimized his potential financial loss. Loss of income from an NFL suspension is limited to salary, not bonus. The Browns deliberately structured Watson’s 2022 salary to be the minimum, roughly $1 million, with the rest of his $46 million compensation coming in the form of signing bonus.

Thus, if Watson is suspended for half the season (just to use a simple number to calculate), his total financial loss would be about $500,000. His 2022 pay would be, instead of $46 million, roughly $45.5 million. The Browns have used this structure on their own players, but not outside players; they sold their soul for, of all players, Watson.

In this rare case, the player, not the team, continues to be the winner in the business of football.
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CloakNNNdagger said:
One of Watson's porn star admirers (who of course has not been selectively blocked) giving him support and "educated" advice. :shades:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1529107905395531780
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SMDH. Hopefully Buzzbee will depose her as a character witness. It’s always a good idea to wear a pink bikini giving a guy facing sexual accusations in the double digits advice to settle because (as history continues to show) another NFL player will steal his current limelight…as if that ends his problems. Wonder if she thought saying “someone else in the NFL…” helps his case with Goodell? If that tweet was real she may have forced Goodell into drawing a line in the sand.
 
thunderkyss said:
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He talks about perjury, while most of the family and friends were not deposed to get any information.

Why didn't he mention this information that came from deposition?:

She [Solis] also said at the end of a massage, Watson told her: “I know you have a career to protect,” and “I know you don’t want anyone messing with it just like I don’t want anyone messing with mine.”

link
 
djohn2oo8 said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1529189267930501120
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Two of Deshaun Watson’s accusers had a similar reaction when they learned of his record $230 million contract with the Cleveland Browns.

“It’s just like a big screw you,” Ashley Solis said on HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel airing Tuesday night. “That's what it feels like. That we don't care. He can run and throw, and that's what we care about.”

Another accuser, Kyla Hayes, said, “It was sick to me.”

“Why?” asked HBO correspondent Soledad O’Brien

“I felt like he's being rewarded for bad behavior,” Hayes replied.

This and other excerpts of their HBO interview were shared by HBO before its full viewing Tuesday. Solis and Hayes are among 22 women who are suing Watson and have accused him of sexual misconduct during massage sessions from early 2020 to March 2021.


Watson has denied wrongdoing and recently was traded from the Houston Texans to the Browns, which gave him a record guaranteed contract of $230 million over five years.

Solis last year spoke publicly about her encounter with Watson at her home in the Houston area in March 2020. But the airing of this new interview comes shortly after Watson testified in a May 13 pretrial deposition about his encounter with her in detail. Watson admits to apologizing to her in a text after their encounter in March 2020, according to the deposition transcript obtained by USA TODAY Sports.

He also appears to dispute whether she was crying at the end of the massage but admits her eyes were “watering” and that she was “teary-eyed.” The dictionary defines “cry” as to shed or produce tears.



In the HBO excerpts, O’Brien also questions one of Watson’s attorneys, Leah Graham, about consensual encounters Watson had with massage professionals. Watson's lead attorney, Rusty Hardin, has said the women are lying, out for money and there were "sometimes consensual encounters."

“Deshaun Watson has insisted that in these massages, that he was looking for nothing other than professional services, but we know he did have sex with three women, right?” O’Brien asked. “Oral sex with two, vaginal sex with another. So how do you explain unintentionally ending up having sex with people who are giving you professional massages?”





“Well, in every massage, I will tell you he did go, intending just for a professional massage, and only those three instances where sexual conduct occurred – consensual sexual activity – it occurred after the massage session had ended,” Graham replied, according to the excerpts. “And Mr. Watson has testified and is insistent that that sexual activity was initiated by the plaintiff in every single instance.”
Solis alleged that Watson caused his penis to touch her hand near the end of the massage. Her lawsuit said this caused her to be scared and cry.
At the end of the encounter, she told HBO that Watson told her, “I know you have a career to protect” and "I know you don't want anyone messing with it just like I don't want anyone messing with mine."
“To me, that's when I got really scared,” she said in the interview. Solis also was present for Watson's deposition in Houston May 13.

Watson said in that deposition he didn’t say that and didn’t know why she was teary-eyed.

He admitted in the deposition that he sent her this text after their encounter: “Sorry about you feeling uncomfortable. Never were the intentions. Let me know if you want to work in the future. My apologies."
“Why did you send that?” asked Solis’ attorney Maria Holmes.
“Because I – that wasn't my intentions," he said, according to the transcript. "I never meant to make her feel uncomfortable, like she said that – I'm assuming that she was uncomfortable.”

Solis left the room near the end of the encounter.
“So afterwards when she came in, she was, I guess, watering,” Watson testified May 13. “I don't know. I don't know what her mood was. But, like I said, it was watery eyes. It wasn't balling or crying like that or anything. And I was confused. We were talking about it, what was going on. She didn't really want to explain. I'm confused in what's going on. And then she was like, `Hey, I don't want your money.’ "
Two grand juries in Texas looked at criminal complaints made about Watson's conduct during massage encounters but declined to indict him on criminal charges. The civil cases still could drag on into next year. No trial dates have been set.
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. E-mail: bschrotenb@usatoday.com
 
Come Wednesday morning, after the HBO piece comes out.................and after the entire nation's media.......local and national response comes out...........Hardin's damage control efforts will have Watson..............

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Team Watson doubles down. :dontknowa

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O’Brien asked Graham [Watson's attorney] if Watson still has no regrets.

“As he testified in his depositions last week, yes, he has no regrets because he did nothing wrong,’' Graham said. “He did nothing wrong in these massages.”

***************

Remember when even Haslam's wife suggested that Watson seek counseling.......and he responded to her that he wouldn't because he didn't need it since he did nothing wrong?
 
Deshaun Watson accusers say quarterback's new contract 'a big screw you'
By The Athletic Staff
May 24, 2022Updated 10:43 PM EDT

https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?ur... quarterback's new contract 'a big screw you'
Content warning: This story contains details about alleged sexual abuse. The content may be difficult to read and emotionally upsetting.

Two of the 22 women that accused Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson of sexual assault and sexual misconduct, Ashley Solis and Kyla Hayes, told HBO’s "Real Sports" that they are “sick” that the quarterback received a record $230 million contract extension despite the pending lawsuits.

“It's just like a big screw you,” Solis said during an interview that aired Tuesday night. “That's what it feels like. That we don't care. He can run and throw, and that's what we care about.”

Hayes added: “I felt like he's being rewarded for bad behavior.”

The 26-year-old quarterback received a five-year contract extension that featured a record $230 million in guaranteed money after the Houston Texans traded him to Cleveland for a 2022 first-round draft pick, 2023 first- and third-round picks and 2024 first- and fourth-round picks in March. The trade took place after two Texas grand juries decided not to indict Watson on criminal charges.

The alleged victims detailed the abuse they claimed to have suffered during the segment.

Solis alleged Watson “deliberately” grabbed himself and put his penis on her hand during a massage.

“And I pulled my hand away instantly and I started crying,” she told interviewer Soledad O’Brien. “And I told him that I'm done. I don't want to do this anymore.”

Hayes said Watson requested that she make a "V" motion in his pelvic area.

“So go across his stomach to his thighs, back to his stomach,” she explained. “I just kept massaging and did what he asked until his penis kept touching me repeatedly as I did it ... He was moving his penis back and forth as my hands moved as well.”

Hayes said that was intentional and that Watson eventually ejaculated.

“That was mortifying and embarrassing and disgusting,” she said.

Solis and Hayes' comments echo many of the allegations in the 22 active civil lawsuits. Watson is alleged to have forced two women to perform oral sex, ejaculated on four women and in front of two others, groped four women and kissed another woman unprompted upon arrival for a massage appointment. Eighteen of the 22 active suits accuse Watson of inappropriately touching women with his penis during massage therapy sessions.

Watson’s attorney, Leah Graham, denied the allegations during the interview.

“As he testified in his depositions last week, yes, he has no regrets because he did nothing wrong,” Graham said. “He did nothing wrong in these massages. And although — to your first question, 'How can he be innocent?' I think the real question is, 'What evidence is there of any guilt?'"

Watson denied the allegations several times during an introductory news conference in March, saying he has "never assaulted, or harassed or disrespected any woman."

NFL officials met with Watson in Texas last week. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Tuesday that he didn’t have a timeline on when any potential league discipline might be levied but did say: “I think we're reaching the end of the investigatory period."

Goodell had previously said that the league has been clear with the Browns and other teams that the NFL's personal conduct policy is something it takes very seriously.

"We've been very clear with every club that whether the criminal matter gets resolved or not, the personal conduct policy is something that's very important to us," he said. "It does not need a criminal violation to be a violation of the personal conduct policy. They recognize we're going to make sure we get to the bottom of the facts and how it applies to the personal conduct policy. And when we get to that a decision will be made of if there should be any discipline and if so what is it."
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
Come Wednesday morning, after the HBO piece comes out.................and after the entire nation's media.......local and national response comes out...........Hardin's damage control efforts will have Watson..............

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I hope they don't start taking settlements. If it goes to trial I could see a $230,000,000 judgement to make a statement.
 
TexansBull said:
I don’t think the HBO special did much to move the needle in what will happen.
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Buzbee will kill him in court and public because Watson initially said about if any of them were attractive “I can’t answer that sir, I have a girlfriend”. But now he says he had sex with 3? The big time news stations are talking about it. It’s not going away.
 
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