NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Former NBA star Josh Jackson has been accused of sexually assaulting and threatening a woman in New York City last year, according to a new lawsuit.
Josh Jackson, 26, however, debunked the rape and sexual assault allegations brought by the woman who is named as Jane Doe in the court filings.
According to court documents, the incident took place after a Super Bowl afterparty in February 2022. The former Phoenix Suns power forward is accused of using “his position of notoriety to gain access to [the woman and] to engage in unlawful sexual contact with the [woman] without her consent,” according to a June 12 filing.
What did the victim allege in the court document?
The defendant alleged that on February 13 last year, she attended a party “hosted and attended by members of the Brooklyn Nets NBA team” and came across Jackson.
She went “in hopes of meeting Andre Drummond in person who [she] had a romantic interest in and who had invited her to the party,” as per the documents.
The woman then returned home and alleged that she received texts from Jackson inviting her to “come through” to his hotel and offering her $1,500 to do so.
Eventually, she arrived at his place at around 3.15 am after he sent an Uber to collect her from her apartment and was greeted by a “shirtless” Jackson, the complaint stated.
Josh Jackson tried to impress her by showing his bank account
She claimed he tried to “impress” her by showing his bank account and claiming he has “$12 million.”
She said that she made it clear to Jackson that she was not present there for sex or money and that she had been under the impression the party was still going on at his hotel and others would be in attendance.
According to the filing, the defendant claimed she dozed off in the hotel room and later woke up to Jackson “ripping and pulling her clothes off and climbing on top of her” before exposing himself and forcing himself on her.
The documents claim Jackson “overpowered [her] and held down both of [her] hands as he penetrated her…and raped her” while she cried. She then “fainted, passing out from the trauma.”
The victim received several threatening texts from Josh Jackson's friends
The unidentified woman claimed she received several threatening texts from friends of Jackson after leaving the hotel room, accusing her of stealing the basketball player’s watch, which she denied.
One person threatened that Jackson had “money to blow” and would “hire goons” to come after her, according to the filing.
Two women who “were acquaintances of Jackson” and had seen the defendant at the party the night before broke into her apartment later that day.
She claimed they told her Jackson had sent them to retrieve the watch she was accused of stealing, threatened her and took her phone and handbag, which she refused to let go of.
They brought her down the elevator to the lobby with them, and her doorman tackled the two women. The New York Police Department was called and arrested the attackers.
The complaint stated that the defendant then reported the rape.
As per the initial filing, the defendant “did not and could not consent to the acts and any purported consent was secured through fraud, deception and undue influence, coercion and duress thereby rendering it void.”
What accusations does Josh Jackson face now?
The defendant accused Jackson of “rape, assault and battery, sexual assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress,” citing the false accusations of theft made by Jackson, that he sent two women to “commit a home-invasion robbery” of her apartment and that he enlisted several people to “harass and intimidate” her “in an attempt to silence her within hours after [he] brutally raped” the defendant, the complaint stated.
Jackson “emphatically denies any sexual assault,” according to a June 28 filing and opposed the defendant’s motion to remain anonymous, claiming “she maintains a provocative and sexualized social media presence.”
Jackson also claimed in his reply that the defendant’s true desire was “publicly humiliating” the athlete who his lawyer called a “target for anyone” given his identity as a public figure.
Jackson’s attorney, John Lauro, said in a statement to Kansas City Star that “Mr Jackson will vigorously contest these allegations in court and looks forward to the truth being fully told.”
