Two more women accused Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson of sexual misconduct, alleging in separate lawsuits that he exposed himself and made inappropriate requests during massage sessions last year.
A total of 21 women have sued Watson.
The two new lawsuits were filed Tuesday in Houston. The women, identified in the court documents as "Jane Doe," work as massage therapists who advertise their services on social media.
One of the women, who lives in Kansas, said Watson contacted her on the Snapchat social media platform in July and scheduled a session at a private suite at The Houstonian hotel in Texas. The woman, who did not have her massage therapy license, used social media to build her business and clientele, the suit says.
According to the lawsuit, Watson got completely naked during the first session, ignored the woman's requests that he cover up and demanded that she "massage the area immediately around his anus." The woman refused, it says.
The suit alleges that after he scheduled a second session, Watson told the woman that she could show up wearing only a sports bra and short shorts. She declined and arrived at The Houstonian "professionally clothed," the suit says. During the session, Watson demanded that she massage his groin area and touched her hand with his penis, it alleges.
Watson and the woman had two more sessions, during which he continued to act inappropriately, according to the suit. In one instance, he rubbed the woman's buttocks and leg and ejaculated in front of her, it claims.
During the last session, he coerced her into performing oral sex, the suit alleges.
The woman said in the suit that she did not stop working for Watson sooner because she did not want to risk a high-profile athlete's giving her a bad review. Watson, 25, knew that the woman was a single mother with financial troubles and used the information "to his advantage in an effort to manipulate her," according to the suit.
The second woman, who has a massage business in Scottsdale, Arizona, alleged in her lawsuit that Watson contacted her in July for a Swedish massage. When he arrived at her business, he told her to focus on his glutes, the lawsuit says.
Having worked with other athletes, the woman complied, because it was not unusual for someone to have pain in the gluteal muscles because of the sciatic nerve, according to the suit. During the session, Watson made a sexual request, but the woman refused, it alleges.
"When Plaintiff responded no again, defendant Watson realized that Plaintiff was not going to entertain his sexual advances, and stated that the massage was done," the lawsuit says.
The suits were filed by lawyer Anthony Buzbee, who is also representing the other women.
Watson's attorney, Rusty Hardin, released statements Wednesday from 18 massage therapists who said they had worked for Watson and had never "experienced any of the behavior alleged by anonymous plaintiffs."
"Collectively, they have worked with Deshaun more than 130 times over the past five years," Hardin said. "These statements show the other side to this story that has been so lacking in the flurry of anonymous complaints filed by opposing counsel."
All of the therapists said Watson was polite during the sessions and did not act inappropriately.
"Some of these accusations are so ludicrous. I just can't see him doing any of those things. He was never inappropriate with me. I never felt threatened in any way," said one of the therapists, Myah Roberson.
Another, Masako Jones, said: "I have worked with Deshaun several times since October 2019 and he's never been anything other than professional and polite."
Hardin previously accused Buzbee of orchestrating a "circus-like atmosphere" to "inflame the public and malign Deshaun's otherwise sterling reputation."
In a lengthy Instagram post Tuesday, Buzbee said: "We will continue to conform our conduct to the ethical rules for lawyers in Texas. We take our obligations very seriously. We will say this once, and encourage those inquiring to pay attention to our public filings, rather than lawyer statements in the media."
