NBA star Dwight Howard has reportedly responded to the bombshell sexual assault and battery lawsuit filed against him in July 2021 by a man named Stephen Harper.
According to court documents obtained by Radar Online, Howard reportedly admitted that he engaged in “consensual” sexual activity with Harper and a third party named Kitty — a man who was dressed up as a woman. However, the basketball star denied sexually assaulting Harper and forcing him to receive oral sex.
“The three agreed to touch one another and to engage in consensual sexual activity,” Howard’s lawyer wrote in his response to the lawsuit, Radar Online noted. Howard, 37, claimed that the plaintiff “was aware” Kitty would be joining them for the night before arriving at his home that evening. The NBA star is demanding for the entire suit to be tossed out.
Harper told a different story in his 2021 lawsuit.
In Harper’s explosive 2021 complaint, he alleged that he met the Los Angeles Laker player at his Georgia home in July 2021, after he met the star on Instagram and began exchanging “sexually explicit content” via text, MadameNoire previously reported.
Harper claimed that he and Howard “engaged in consensual kissing” inside his suite before they went upstairs to his bedroom. The explosive lawsuit alleged that Kitty later joined Harper and Howard in the bedroom, turned on a pornographic film and began performing oral sex on Howard. The NBA star allegedly wanted Harper to have a threesome with him and Kitty, but he shook his head “no” and verbally told him “no,” the suit stated.
Despite his refusal, the baller allegedly continued to make sexual advances toward Harper. The suit claimed that the athlete began to rub Harper’s thigh and stroke his “penis through his underwear.” Harper claimed the Lakers player became angry when he shut the Lakers player down.
“Defendant stood up (towering over Mr. Harper), grabbed Mr. Harper by the thighs, forcibly removed Mr. Harper’s underwear, held Mr. Harper down, and performed nonconsensual oral sex on Mr. Harper,” the suit read.
“Mr. Harper was in fear of imminent bodily harm when he was pinned down and forced to remain in place while Defendant continued to sexually assault him.”
The plaintiff also claimed that during their wild threesome in bed, Kitty allegedly “anally penetrated” Howard. The NBA star supposedly grabbed Harper’s head and shoved his penis into the plaintiff’s mouth. When the men were finished, the plaintiff immediately called an Uber. He said he felt “extremely violated and humiliated and was in complete shock” after the threesome, according to the suit.
Harper accused Howard of “assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and false imprisonment.” He also submitted text messages and an Uber receipt dated July 19, 2021, to prove that he visited the NBA center-forward’s home.
Dwight Howard denied the allegations during an interview with Angela Yee in July.
“It wasn’t real,” the father of five told Yee and her co-host Jasmine Brand when asked about the shocking suit. “There was a lawsuit, but they threw the case out.”
Before the suit, rumors about Howard’s sexuality had been swirling for years. When Yee and Brand asked if there was any truth to the hearsay, the 6-foot-11 baller claimed that there were people out there hellbent on “conspiring against him.”
“Of course, they are going to say things like that to keep this negative train going,” he added.
“Whatever they think my personal life is, that’s my personal life, and I would never make public statements about something private of mine, like who’s in my bed or anything like that.”
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