Editors’ note: This story contains accounts of sexual assault. If you or someone you know is a survivor of sexual assault, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or at https://www.rainn.org.
On Tuesday, The New York Times’ Jenny Vrentas released a new report that found that Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson booked massage therapy sessions with 66 women over the span of 17 months. It also found that a Houston-based spa and the Texans “enabled” his massage habit and that the franchise provided facilities and non-disclosure agreements for his sessions. The former Texans quarterback seemingly replied to the article in an Instagram story posted Tuesday.
The 26-year-old quoted the song “Rich Off Pain” and included the lyrics, “See, the blogs can’t break me down, see, I’m the voice, I don’t reply. But the rumors y’all done heard, I’ma humbly deny, yeah, yeah.”
Watson is facing 24 active civil lawsuits filed by massage therapists, each detailing graphic accounts of sexual harassment and sexual assault that occurred during massage therapy sessions. The accounts range from Watson allegedly refusing to cover his genitals to the quarterback “touching [a plaintiff] with his penis and trying to force her to perform oral sex on him.”
The quarterback denied assaulting, harassing or disrespecting any woman during his introductory press conference with Cleveland in March.
The report’s findings seem to contradict previous claims made by Watson that he booked appointments with 40 different massage therapists during his five seasons with Houston. Vrentas found that the 66 women were booked between fall 2019 to spring 2021. Some of the 66 women reported similar troubling behavior from the former Texans quarterback.
It also found that A New U Spa aided Watson by setting him up with therapists who were not licensed to perform massages in the state of Texas. Four employees of the spa sued Watson, including the 23rd plaintiff that filed a lawsuit against Watson on May 31. The latest petition claimed that the spa “provided” women for the quarterback.
“Dionne Louis, the owner of the spa, facilitated massages for Watson and knew Watson was attempting to have sex with them,” the lawsuit says. According to Cash App receipts and text messages included in the petition’s documents, “Watson paid Dionne Louis at least five thousand dollars for Louis’s ‘work.’”
Per The Times, the Texans also reportedly supplied Watson with NDA’s that he began taking to massage therapy sessions and also set Watson up with “a place” at The Houstonian, an exclusive club and hotel. He reportedly used hotel rooms for massage therapy sessions where he met with at least seven women.
According to The Times, two of the women who gave massages at The Houstonian filed civil lawsuits and two complained to the police. Watson said that to his knowledge, the Texans were not aware of the massage therapy sessions at the hotel, though one woman said she was told the room where she gave Watson a massage was registered to a member of the team’s training staff.
Following the release of HBO’s Real Sports segment in late May, a 23rd lawsuit emerged against Watson, with the plaintiff citing that the segment and Watson saying he had “no regrets” changed her mind. Rusty Hardin, Watson’s attorney, released a statement following the 23rd lawsuit filing and continued defending his client.
“Deshaun Watson vehemently denies the allegations, just as he has since she first discussed them with members of our firm in March of last year,” Hardin said. “She repeated the allegations on social media in August and he denied them then. The only thing new about her contentions is the embellishment making them more extreme than prior versions. Deshaun’s denial remains the same.”
On June 6, a 24th lawsuit was filed that details a similar account to the 23 other suits against Watson.
Watson previously faced multiple criminal complaints but is no longer facing charges following two separate grand jury hearings. A Harris County grand jury returned nine “no” decisions on nine criminal complaints against Watson in March and a county prosecutor said that the decision concluded criminal proceedings against him in that county. On March 24, a grand jury in Brazoria County declined to charge Watson on a 10th count.
Despite the ongoing civil lawsuits, the Browns traded for Watson in March following the Harris County grand jury ruling and signed him to a massive five-year contract worth a guaranteed $230 million. It set a new record for the highest guaranteed contract ever. A clause built into the contract will have Watson losing only $55,556 for every game he’s suspended this season, as he is set to make just $1 million in 2022.
The league is currently investigating Watson, with commissioner Roger Goodell saying in late May that the league is “nearing the end of the investigation,” though no timeline was provided on when a ruling would be issued by the disciplinary officer.
