Dwight Howard, a former NBA player, has requested the dismissal of a civil action he is facing in Georgia and rejected the accusations of sexual assault and battery made against him earlier this year.
According to court records that ESPN was able to get, Howard claimed on Monday that he had “consensual sexual activity” at his Georgia home in July 2021 with a man by the name of Stephen Harper. According to the filing, Howard denied injuring Harper in any way.
Harper’s attorneys stated in the initial July complaint that he and Howard started conversing via Instagram direct messages in May 2021, with Harper starting the conversation. In the subsequent July 2021 meeting, Harper accused Howard of sexually abusing him at Howard’s residence.
Olga Izmaylova, Harper’s attorney, told ESPN that “we had expected Mr. Howard to raise the matter of consent in his Answer,” emphasizing that Harper did not provide consent.
In Harper’s lawsuit, Howard was also charged with false detention and “intentional infliction of emotional distress”. These claims were refuted by Howard’s reply.
One of Howard’s attorneys, Justin Bailey, told ESPN that what had been a private, consensual relationship had been made public for financial gain. Howard is looking forward to exposing the truth in court. “Mr. Howard’s accusers are not entirely true. Mr. Howard wants to tell it like it is. The truth is that once Mr. Howard blocked Mr. Harper on social media, he was given the choice between paying to safeguard his name and letting a false report go viral. Despite being a target because of the situation and his celebrity, Mr. Howard decided to have faith in the legal system and would let the upcoming court papers speak for themselves.
Harper’s complaint contains an Uber receipt for Harper’s travel to Howard’s house the night of the incident, as well as screenshots of claimed 2021 Instagram conversations between Harper and Howard.
An incident record from July 2022 that the Gwinnett County Police Department provided to ESPN states that Harper enlisted in the police force a year later. Charges were not brought.
“This report was submitted following Mr. Harper being denied access to social media after the first request for payment was rejected,” Bailey stated.
The statute of limitations in Georgia is two years from the date of the incident for this kind of civil case.
“We had some independent investigation to carry out and Mr. Harper had certain private factors to consider,” Izmaylova stated, “before we all felt prepared to proceed with the lawsuit.”
The 37-year-old Howard’s final NBA season was with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2021–2022. He has won three NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards and eight All-Star selections.