he says it was consensual Handsome former NBA MVP sued by man for sexual assault

[samhexum]

Former NBA center Dwight Howard has denied sexual assault and battery allegations stemming from a July 2021 incident at his Georgia residence with a man named Stephen Harper, according to a civil lawsuit obtained by The Post.

An attorney for Howard, who currently plays in the Taiwanese pro basketball league, said his client is looking forward to “presenting the truth” in court.

“What was a private consensual encounter was made public for profit and Mr. Howard looks forward to bringing the truth to light in a court of law,” an attorney for Howard, Justin Bailey, told ESPN. “The allegations against Mr. Howard are contested. Mr. Howard intends to present the truth….

“Despite being an easy target due to the subject matter and his status as a celebrity, Mr. Howard chose to trust in the justice system and will rely on all future court filings to speak for themselves.”

Per the court documents, Howard said he engaged in “consensual sexual activity” with Harper, but denied causing any injury to Harper while they were at Howard’s home in July 2021.

The encounter took place after Harper’s lawyers said in their initial filing that their client initiated communication with Howard over direct messages on Instagram in May 2021, according to ESPN.

Howard also denied allegations of “intentional infliction of emotional distress” and “false imprisonment,” as stated in the civil lawsuit.

Howard has asked the court to dismiss the civil lawsuit filed against him in July 2023 in Georgia.

In a separate incident report obtained by ESPN, Harper went to the Gwinnett County Police Department in July 2022 — a year after the alleged incident — but no charges were filed.

“This report was made following Mr. Harper being blocked on social media and after the first demand for payment was rejected,” Bailey told the outlet.

Howard last played in the league in 2022 and continued his professional basketball career later that year with Taiwan’s Taoyuan Leopards.

• Ex-NBA star officiates wedding in Spain: ‘No better feeling’

[+ WilliamM]

Also covered by ESPN in a less sensational way

[NJF]

This lawsuit was filed several months ago so today must be a slow news day 😂 

[dutchal]

Wow, how many guys in this world would volunteer or even pay to have Dwight Howard blow them?

[samhexum]

10 minutes ago, dutchal said:

Wow, how many guys in this world would volunteer or even pay to have Dwight Howard blow them?

It's been awhile since we've had a good GG quote...

 

Angelo:
I met a beautiful young Sicilian aerobics instructor. Gorgeous eyes, angelic mouth, and a behind dat must have been made on a Saturday because even the good Lord himself would wanna take a day off to admire it! I lost my heart, and I opened my wallet, eh. All the expensive gifts and fancy dinners and weekends in Mykonos, eh. I even wore one of those-a tiny Speedo swimsuits, shows all your gingerbread and everything, eh. And she leaves me. What does a six-foot-seven-inch American basketball player got that I don't?

Blanche:
Well Angelo, speaking in terms of the gingerbread alone---

Dorothy:
BLANCHE!!!

[samhexum]

Dwight Howard has argued that allegations of sexual assault and battery against him are baseless and that a Georgia court should immediately rule in his favor and dismiss the charges without a trial.

A Gwinnett County court has yet to make a decision regarding the petition, but in a Thursday filing that was obtained by ESPN, Howard's attorneys again claimed that Howard and a man named Stephen Harper engaged in a consensual encounter involving a third person at Howard's Georgia residence in July 2021.

Harper filed a lawsuit in July with his lawyers accusing Howard of sexually assaulting him during the encounter, along with "intentional infliction of emotional distress" and false imprisonment.

In October, Howard denied the allegations and asked the court to dismiss the case.

On Thursday, Howard's attorneys went further, alleging that key text messages were deleted and not part of the initial complaint filed by Harper's attorneys. Howard's attorneys also alleged that a pull of the iMessage conversation between Harper and Howard revealed that some messages were doctored.

Thursday's filing includes screenshots of alleged text messages between Howard and Harper that were not in the initial complaint.

"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 write in Thursday's filing.

"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."

Harper's lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In Harper's initial complaint, his lawyers said Harper and Howard first began corresponding over direct messages on Instagram in May 2021, with Harper initiating the exchange. That complaint included screenshots of alleged Instagram exchanges between Harper and Howard from 2021, along with an Uber receipt of Harper's trip to Howard's residence on the night of the encounter.

Harper went to police a year later, according to a July 2022 incident report from the Gwinnett County Police Department, which was obtained by ESPN. No charges were filed.

"This is nothing more than a classic case of unrequited love," Howard's lawyers wrote in Thursday's filing. "After one consensual evening together, Mr. Howard was no longer interested in keeping Mr. Harper's company."

They added, "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."

Howard's lawyers allege that Howard received multiple demands for payment, each from different lawyers and law firms over a year.

"When these threats and several demands for money went unfulfilled," Howard's lawyers wrote, "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."

Howard, 38, last played in the NBA in 2021-22 with the Los Angeles Lakers. He is an eight-time All-Star and a three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year.

[pubic_assistance]

On 10/26/2023 at 2:59 PM, dutchal said:

Wow, how many guys in this world would volunteer or even pay to have Dwight Howard blow them?

Sex with Howard would definitely be consensual for me even if I was being held prisoner....

 

[dutchal]

If Harper's attorneys doctored messages before submitting them to the court they could be subject to some serious discipline. 

[spidir]

The desire for fame, fortune and fun is hard to resist. Good for Howard as he stands tall in the face of this legal matter. Despite the controversy and online discussions about the allegations, Howard didn't hold back in his response and addressed the situation via Instagram Live:

"That's the problem with ya'll people," Howard said.

"Ya'll done worried about who people spend they time with. Whatever I'm doing in my bedroom is my damn business.

"Whatever you doing in your bedroom is your damn business. That ain't for everybody. Everybody don't need to know. I don't gotta tell nobody where I put my wood."

[samhexum]

3 hours ago, spidir said:

"Ya'll done worried about who people spend they time with. Whatever I'm doing in my bedroom is my damn business.

"Whatever you doing in your bedroom is your damn business. That ain't for everybody. Everybody don't need to know. I don't gotta tell nobody where I put my wood."

I find that very sexy, despite the horrible grammar.

[pubic_assistance]

3 hours ago, samhexum said:

I find that very sexy, despite the horrible grammar.

He sounds hot.

The grammar is actually pretty consistent with the usual patterns of that cultural dialect. So I don't know you can define it as "bad".

[samhexum]

On 10/26/2023 at 3:12 PM, samhexum said:

It's been awhile since we've had a good GG quote...

I've always thought he was handsome, from the time he came into the league.  This was him as a young'n.  His ears look tiny, though, which brings up:

Blanche: He had these long, floppy ears. Kind of like a basset hound. When he came to pick me up for our blind date, I couldn't believe it. He jumped out of the car, and ran up the walk, and bounded up on to the front porch, and I remember thinking, "He's gonna trip on those ears." But he didn't. So there he stood before me introducing himself, and I don't know, I was still so stunned, I just kind of half-muttered a "Howdy-do" and he said, "I beg your pardon? I didn't hear you." Well, I don't know what came over me, but I just blurted out, "Didn't hear me? I think you could pick up Radio Free Europe with those ears!" And you know what he did? He laughed. Well, right then and there I started growing very fond of Mr. Preston Bougainvillea, and over the next several months we saw quite a lot of each other.

Rose: Oh, that's really very sweet, Blanche.

Blanche: I know... By the way, did you girls know that the size of a man's ears is directly proportionate to the size of his other... bodily organs?

Rose: What do you mean?

Dorothy: He had a big, floppy pancreas, Rose.

Edited December 17, 2023 by samhexum
for shits and giggles

[TonyDown]

On 10/25/2023 at 6:25 PM, samhexum said:

 

I'm headin' down the Atlanta highway
Lookin' for the love getaway
Headed for the love getaway

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

Huggin' and a-kissin', dancin' and a-lovin'
Wearin' next to nothing 'cause it's hot as an oven

 

Not Guilty!  😍

Edited December 17, 2023 by TonyDown