The accusations:
A woman has accused New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson of rape in addition to "sexual, physical, emotional and financial" abuse over the span of a multiyear relationship, according to a lawsuit submitted to Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday.
The court filing details two alleged incidents of rape in 2020, the first taking place that September in Beverly Hills, California. According to the complaint, the woman told Williamson "she was tired and wanted to go to sleep" but Williamson told her she could not go to sleep without having sex with him. He then allegedly pinned her down with her hands behind her back and raped her. The filing added that Williamson threw the woman's phone across the room afterward and choked her.
A second rape allegedly occurred in October 2020, also in Beverly Hills. The woman says she was "violently raped" after expressing plans to visit a friend in San Diego. In both instances, the woman accused Williamson of taking her phone for "a period of time."
In addition to the rape allegations, the lawsuit details accusations of strangulation "with such force that she reasonably feared for her life and eventually lost consciousness multiple times." The woman also accuses Williamson of entering her apartment without consent and stealing her belongings.
The lawsuit accuses Williamson of "threatening to kill" the woman and her family members multiple times
Zion's lawyer's response:
The attorneys say that Williamson and the woman had a "consensual, casual relationship" that ended years ago and that "at no point during or immediately after that relationship did the plaintiff raise any concerns." They added that Williamson had reported the woman's "extortion attempts" to law enforcement and that he plans to file a counterclaim.
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