New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson has been accused of rape, domestic violence and a years-long pattern of abuse in a civil lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
The plaintiff, identified in the complaint as Jane Doe, alleges the NBA star sexually assaulted her twice in 2020 at a home he rented in Beverly Hills and subjected her to repeated abuse until their relationship ended in 2023. The 12-page suit, obtained by the Guardian, lays out allegations of sexual battery, stalking, false imprisonment and physical assault spanning multiple states, including California, Louisiana, Texas and Oregon.
The plaintiff claims she began dating Williamson in 2018, when he was a freshman at Duke University, and that the relationship soon turned violent. “Defendant engaged in a continuing pattern of abusive, controlling, and threatening behavior toward Plaintiff,” the complaint states. “The abuse was sexual, physical, emotional, and financial in nature.”
According to the suit, the first alleged rape occurred on or about 23 September 2020, when Williamson allegedly had the plaintiff brought to his Beverly Hills home by one of his agents. When he arrived later that evening, she told him she was tired and wanted to go to sleep. “Defendant called Plaintiff ‘stuck up’ and a ‘bitch’ and told her that she could not go to sleep without having sex with him,” the complaint alleges. “Plaintiff told Defendant ‘no.’ Defendant pinned Plaintiff down on the bed with her hands behind her back and raped her.” The filing claims he later threw her phone across the room and choked her while yelling.
A second alleged incident occurred two weeks later, on 10 October 2020, when the plaintiff expressed interest in seeing a friend in San Diego. The complaint alleges Williamson became enraged, threw objects in the home, then assaulted her before raping her again. “Defendant took Plaintiff’s cellphone and laptop and kept them for a period of time so that Plaintiff could not contact anyone to secure a ride elsewhere, report the assault, or seek medical care,” the suit says.
The filing also outlines a broader pattern of alleged violence and coercive control that continued through 2023. It accuses Williamson of physically beating the plaintiff, entering her home without consent, threatening to distribute nude images of her and monitoring her movements. “Defendant threatened to have his paid security guard shoot Plaintiff in the head while the security guard was present and carrying a loaded firearm,” the complaint reads. “Defendant threatened to have his paid security guard kill Plaintiff’s parents, after informing Plaintiff that he knows their home address.”
In one instance in 2022, the suit claims Williamson forced the plaintiff into a vehicle and slammed the car door on her head when she tried to escape, causing her to lose consciousness. On multiple occasions, she alleges, he strangled or suffocated her until she passed out. Many of these episodes, the complaint adds, occurred when Williamson was allegedly intoxicated or under the influence of cocaine.
“These acts occurred without Plaintiff’s consent and against her will,” the lawsuit alleges, detailing 18 separate forms of violence and control. The plaintiff says she has suffered lasting trauma, including anxiety, depression, insomnia and physical injury, and has incurred costs for medical and psychological treatment. The complaint seeks general, special and punitive damages and demands a jury trial.
Williamson, a two-time NBA All-Star and the No 1 overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft, has denied the allegations through his attorney, Michael Balascio. “We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and we unequivocally deny them,” Balascio said in a statement. “The allegations contained in the complaint are categorically false and reckless.”
Balascio described the plaintiff as a former acquaintance and claimed the two shared a “consensual, casual relationship that began more than six years ago,” when Williamson was 18. “At no point during or immediately after that relationship did the plaintiff raise any concerns,” he said. “Only after the friendship ended did she begin demanding millions of dollars.”
Williamson’s legal team claims he has filed a police report accusing the plaintiff of extortion and that an arrest warrant has been issued. He intends to file a counterclaim and “seek significant damages for this defamatory lawsuit”, Balascio said.
The plaintiff is represented by the Lanier Law Firm, a nationally known trial firm based in Texas and California. Her attorney, Sam Taylor II, said the case is being handled carefully given its seriousness. “It’s not her desire or our desire to litigate this case in the press,” Taylor told the New York Post. “Our client looks forward to her day in court where she can go and explain to a jury what happened to her, the things she endured for this defendant, and getting justice.”
A spokesperson for the Pelicans said the team is aware of the matter but is deferring all comment to Williamson’s legal representatives. No criminal charges have been filed and the suit currently proceeds solely as a civil matter.
Williamson has played in just 214 games over five seasons with the Pelicans due to a rash of injuries, including missing the entire 2021–22 season. Still, he remains a high-profile face of the franchise and one of the league’s most visible young stars, with career averages of 24.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists.
Whether the case proceeds to trial or is resolved through other legal avenues, both parties appear ready to contest the facts in court. “Mr Williamson will not be intimidated into a settlement based on lies,” Balascio said. “He will defend his reputation vigorously.”
