2 WATSON ACCUSERS GO PUBLIC
Talk about their experiences with Texans’ star QB, who has been sued by 22 women
The first woman to file a sexual-misconduct lawsuit against Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson came forward Tuesday to tell her story publicly and said he assaulted and harassed her March 30, 2020, in her home.
Ashley Solis, a licensed massage therapist, was the first Watson accuser to reveal her identity among the 22 who have filed lawsuits against him since March 16. After she read her statement in front of TV cameras, one of her attorneys also revealed the name of a second woman who made similar allegations in a lawsuit — Lauren Baxley, who was identified as another therapist.
“I am a survivor of assault and harassment,” Solis said from the office of her attorney in Houston. “Deshaun Watson is my assaulter and my harasser. Deshaun Watson assaulted and harassed me on March 30, 2020, in my own home doing what I felt was massage therapy. I am a licensed massage therapist. Now that the profession that I love so much has been forever tainted, I am deeply saddened but not surprised to see so many victim-blaming in the press and by online commenters.
“And they have absolutely no idea what I’m going through or what happened to me. No idea. This incident has affected me in many ways, and those ways are hard to describe. They are a range of emotions: guilt, embarrassment, shame, courage, anger, sadness and numbness. Some days, I feel like a hero. Other days, I feel like a failure.”
Like Solis, Baxley said in a letter read by her attorney that Watson reached out to her through Instagram to obtain her services. Baxley did not appear in front of cameras. Both are among 22 plaintiffs who have accused him of sexual misconduct, including two who accuse him of sexual assault.
Many describe a similar pattern — that Watson initiated contact via Instagram to arrange for a massage session, then caused them to touch his genitals during the session.
Watson, 25, has not been arrested or criminally charged. He and his attorney, Rusty Hardin, have broadly denied the allegations.
After Solis came forward, Hardin’s firm fired back by releasing a statement that said her attorney, Tony Buzbee, had “sought $100,000 in hush money on behalf of Ms. Solis to quietly settle the allegations the month before he filed the first lawsuit.”
Solis had said in her statement earlier that “people say that I’m doing this just for money. That is false.”
Hardin’s firm also showed an email exchange between a representative for Watson, Scott Gaffield, and Cornelia Brandfield-Harvey, an attorney with Buzbee’s firm. The e-mails were part of an apparent bid to settle the case before the lawsuit was filed. Gaffield is general counsel for Athletes First, the sports agency for a number of NFL players, including Watson.
“We did not think that the facts showed that Deshaun did anything wrong with their client,” Gaffield said in a statement issued by Hardin’s firm. “We believed then — and fully believe now — that Deshaun learned a lesson about putting himself in this type of situation by interacting with people he does not know. As the emails show, we were willing to continue discussions on Deshaun’s behalf to explore ways to prevent a lawsuit and a public spectacle. But Mr. Buzbee informed us that he was unwilling to do so. We expect that this matter will be resolved in court.”
After news of the first lawsuit was made public, Watson wrote on Twitter that Buzbee made a “baseless six-figure settlement demand” before filing suit. Watson also said he looked forward to clearing his name and that he has never treated a woman “with anything but the utmost respect.”
The lawsuits have all come from Buzbee’s law firm since March 16, and all were filed by plaintiffs under the pseudonym Jane Doe.
The women seek compensatory damages and are described as licensed massage therapists, estheticians and other fitness and wellness professionals.