Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson says he was surprised by latest sexual assault lawsuit

By Jacob Lev, CNN

(CNN) — Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson said Wednesday he was surprised by the latest civil lawsuit levied against him.

On Monday, in the suit obtained by CNN, a woman identified as “Jane Doe” claimed Watson sexually assaulted her in her apartment before a dinner date in October 2020.

The 28-year-old told reporters during Wednesday’s weekly media availability, he found out about the lawsuit when everyone else did.

Earlier in the day, Watson’s attorney Rusty Hardin, released a statement saying the former first-round pick “strongly denies” the allegations.

“We have asked him not to comment further while this matter works its way through the courts, but are comfortable he will ultimately be vindicated,” Hardin said.

“We will be ready to defend this case in court at the appropriate time, but don’t intend to conduct our defense in the media. We would ask that people be patient while the legal process runs its course. In the meantime, Deshaun is going to focus his energy and concentration on football.”

The plaintiff’s attorney, Tony Buzbee, issued a rebuttal statement Wednesday, saying he reached out to Hardin 10 months ago to work out a resolution and called Watson out for lying about being unaware of the latest allegations.

“We knew this case was the most serious and egregious case brought against Watson to date and our client, who is rightly traumatized by these events, wanted to attempt a private resolution,” Buzbee wrote in an Instagram post. “We thought that was the best approach given the media storm that occurred surrounding the legion of other claims.

“Unfortunately, Watson’s team or maybe his lawyers couldn’t or wouldn’t give this case the attention it was due. … Watson was well aware of this victim and her claims immediately after it occurred and Watson was again reminded back when we filed the first lawsuit for the other multiple victims.”

When asked about his lawyer’s statement Wednesday, Watson said, “The statement is the response that we talked about and, you know, everything that he put in that statement is exactly how I’m feeling and what we’re going through this process with.”

Watson and the Browns are scheduled to play the Jacksonville Jaguars on the road Sunday. He said his “focus” is on football when asked how he does not allow this to become a distraction.

“I focus on keeping the main thing,” Watson said Wednesday. “And that’s when I walk into this building focusing on being the best quarterback I can be, on the game plan and trying to be better than we were last week so we can get a W.”

In 2022, the NFL and the NFLPA agreed to suspend Watson for 11 regular season games without pay and fine him $5 million after at least 24 civil lawsuits were filed on behalf of women alleging the quarterback sexually harassed or assaulted them during private massage appointments while he was playing for the Texans.

Watson repeatedly denied wrongdoing in those cases, and 23 of the lawsuits were settled confidentially. Two grand juries declined to charge Watson criminally.

CNN’s Wayne Sterling and Ben Church contributed to this report.

The-CNN-Wire
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