- Texans quarterback
DeShaun Watson is facing seven lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct. - The lawsuits allege Watson exposed himself and mistreated several massage therapists.
- In a statement, Watson denied any wrongdoing.
The lawsuits were filed by attorney Tony Buzbee on behalf of several unnamed plaintiffs that work as massage therapists.
Buzbee filed one lawsuit on Tuesday and announced it in an Instagram post. Since then, he has announced that a total of seven suits have been filed. He says he's representing 12 women, and that 22 in total have come forward, according to reporter Matthew Seedorff with Fox26 Houston.
In the first lawsuit filed, a massage therapist alleged that Watson made inappropriate sexual advances during a massage appointment. The incident the woman describes - she is kept anonymous in the suit - happened a year ago, in March 2020.
The plaintiff alleges that Watson "repeatedly stated that he wanted her focus to be on his groin area," which made her feel uncomfortable.
"It became apparent that Watson wanted a massage for only one reason - sex," the lawsuit reads.
In a statement on Tuesday, Watson denied any wrongdoing.
"I have never treated any woman with anything other than the utmost respect," he said.
That same lawsuit further alleges that Watson exposed himself to the plaintiff and "purposely touched plaintiff's hand with the tip of his erect penis," at which point the woman ended the massage. It also suggests that Watson made a statement to the plaintiff that she considered a threat, then later sent a text to apologize for the incident.
The subsequent lawsuits allege that Watson engaged in a similar pattern with other women, booking massages through Instagram direct messages then exposing himself once the appointments had begun. They, too, allege that Watson directed therapists to focus on his groin, and moved his body so that his penis would touch their hands.
In one lawsuit, a woman alleges that Watson "coerced plaintiff to move her mouth towards his penis, forcing plaintiff to perform oral sex on him."
In his Tuesday statement, Watson said that before Buzbee filed the first suit, he "made a baseless, six-figure settlement demand, which I quickly rejected."
"Unlike him, this isn't about money for me - it's about clearing my name, and I look forward to doing that," Watson said.
The Houston Texans addressed the situation in a statement on Wednesday.
"We became aware of a civil lawsuit involving Deshaun Watson through a social media post last night," the statement said. "This is the first time we heard of the matter, and we hope to learn more soon. We take accusations of this nature that involve anyone within the Houston Texans organization seriously. We will await further information before making any additional statements on this incident."