Dwight Howard is responding to “haters” on the internet to deny the resurfaced sexual assault and battery allegations against him from July 2021.
Source: Gene Wang / Getty
On Wednesday, the NBA veteran took to TikTok to comment on the situation, which has regained steam two years after the alleged incident.
Howard didn’t seem bothered by the accusations against him, posting a clip that showed him pretending to take a phone call while typing quickly on a keyboard.
“How they want me to respond to the haters online,” the 37-year-old wrote over the clip along with a crying-laughing emoji.
In a separate TikTok, Howard–who currently plays in the Taiwanese pro basketball league– can be seen standing behind a huge lion while making a fierce facial expression.
He posted the video in response to one TikTok user, who commented, “We just wanna know who kitty is.”
As previously reported, the basketball star admitted that he engaged in “consensual sexual activity” with a man named Stephen Harper in the civil lawsuit, but still denied causing any injury while they were at Howard’s Georgia home in July 2021. Howard also went on to deny allegations of “intentional infliction of emotional distress” and “false imprisonment” as stated in the civil lawsuit.
In Harper’s initial complaint obtained by Radar Online, he alleged that Howard surprised him by bringing out a man dressed as a woman who called himself “Kitty.” Howard went on to claim in the court documents that he and Harper removed their clothing and proceeded to “engage in consensual kissing” during the July 2021 encounter.
Harper said in his complaint that Howard wanted a threesome, but he was uncomfortable and did not want to participate. When Harper asked Howard to stop, the former NBA player told him he “was going. to do whatever” and he was “going to like it,” according to the court documents.
“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,”one of Howard’s attorneys, Justin Bailey, told ESPN. “The allegations against Mr. Howard are contested. Mr. Howard intends to present the truth.”
Bailey continued, “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.”
