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Zion Williamson Accused of Rape in Newly Filed Lawsuit

Stephen Douglas

Zion Williamson on the bench during an early season game.
Zion Williamson on the bench during an early season game. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
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This post was updated to reflect a statement from Zion Williamson's attorney released after this article's publication on Friday.

Zion Williamson has been accused of rape, among a number of other troubling claims in a newly filed lawsuit according to Eriq Gardner of Puck. A lawsuit was filed against the New Orleans Pelicans star in the Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday accusing him of sexual, physical, emotional and financial abuse.

The suit filed by Jane Doe, says that Williamson and the plaintiff started dating around 2018 while he was a freshman at Duke. The relationship continued through 2023 with Williamson accused of raping her twice in Los Angeles in 2020. In addition to that, the lawsuit alleges other incidents took place in New Orleans.

Gardner posted seme details of the filing on X.

Doe's attorney provided a copy of the filing, as well as a comment, to The Daily Mail:

"We and our client do not want to litigate this case in the press," the statement from the Lanier Law Firm's Sam Taylor began. "However, I will say this is a very serious case as reflected in the Complaint filed in Los Angeles County. Our client looks forward to her day in court before a jury of her peers to obtain justice in this matter."

Williamson's attorney released a statement on Friday as well, saying, "We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and we unequivocally deny them. The allegations contained in the complaint are categorically false and reckless."

The statement goes on to assert that Williamson and the plaintiff maintained a casual relationship that ended years ago, and that complaints were not raised in the years since until recently. It also asserts that "extortion attempts" by the plaintiff were reported to law enforcement, with an arrest warrant following. The statement suggests Williamson intends to file counterclaims of defamation.

The full statement can be found here.

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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.

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