Former NBA star Dwight Howard asked a Gwinnett County court to dismiss a lawsuit against him alleging sexual assault and battery on Thursday through a filing by Howard’s attorney.
A lawsuit had been filed against the former basketball pro in July by a man named Stephen Harper accusing Howard of sexually assaulting him and “intentional infliction of emotional distress” and false imprisonment.
Howard’s lawyer denied those claims in Thursday’s filing, which was obtained by ESPN, and called the encounter consensual and involved a third person at Howard’s home in Georgia in 2021.
The new filing also claimed that Harper had not included key texts in the initial complaint and deleted the messages, even alleging that iMessage conversations had been doctored.
“In short, the totality of the text messages between Mr. Howard and Mr. Harper make it abundantly clear that Mr. Harper’s claims are frivolous, that he was a willing participant in the events of July 19, 2021 and the early morning hours of July 20, 2021, and that the touching of his person had been invited by him,” Howard’s attorneys wrote, according to ESPN.
“More importantly, the explicit messages not only show consent but also that Mr. Harper was initiating some of the sexual contact. Mr. Harper not only invited the initial experience, but tried to initiate a second encounter because the first was so enjoyable. As it is undisputed that Mr. Harper consented to the touching between him and Mr. Howard, Mr. Harper’s claims necessarily fail, and Mr. Howard is entitled to summary judgment as the clear consent negates the essential element of intent and the claims of Assault, Battery, False Imprisonment, and Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress fall like a house of cards.”
Howard had denied the accusations in October.
Thursday’s filing also labeled Harper’s lawsuit as “nothing more than a classic case of unrequited love.”
“After one consensual evening together, Mr. Howard was no longer interested in keeping Mr. Harper’s company,” Howard’s lawyers wrote.
“Mr. Harper told Mr. Howard in text that he would ‘get my parade’ based on taking the private relationship public and would start by telling Mr. Howard’s mom and sisters about Mr. Howard’s private life.”
In his initial complaint, Harper claimed that He and Howard had started talking through direct messages on Instagram.
According to ESPN, Harper had gone to the police a year after the alleged incident occurred and no charges were ever filed.
The basketball player’s legal team claimed that Howard received several demands for payment from various law firms over a years time.
“When these threats and several demands for money went unfulfilled Mr. Harper filed the instant lawsuit as revenge and in an attempt to tarnish Mr. Howard’s reputation, ‘get [his] attention,’ and fulfill the threat of telling the whole world about the private, consensual night,” they wrote.