New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson is rejecting allegations of rape, maintaining that his relationship with the woman who filed the complaint was a consensual “friends with benefits” arrangement.
Williamson denies accusations from a woman identified in court documents as Jane Doe, who alleges that he assaulted her, according to legal filings obtained by TMZ.
In a broad denial, the NBA player disputed every allegation in the complaint and said he did not harm Doe in any way.
The Daily Mail has contacted attorneys for both Williamson and Doe for comment.
According to the outlet, Williamson characterized the relationship as “friendly and casual,” describing their encounters as “pleasant and consensual.”
He also contends that the pair never lived together. Williamson further claims Doe repeatedly attempted to initiate sex when he was unavailable or traveling, and insists that he never committed assault or sexual battery.
Pelicans star Zion Williamson denies rape allegations filed by a “Jane Doe” in Los Angeles
Williamson describes the relationship as casual and their interactions as pleasant and consensual
Williamson says the relationship ended in May 2023. His legal team argues that Doe’s allegations of assault, battery, sexual battery, domestic violence and stalking were filed after the applicable statutes of limitations had expired.
The 26-year-old basketball player also called the domestic violence allegation “nonsensical,” arguing that the two never lived together or had sufficiently frequent contact for their relationship to qualify as domestic.
The case was filed in California, although it includes alleged incidents in North Carolina, Texas and Louisiana. Williamson denies that any such conduct occurred in those four states. He also argues that California laws concerning sexual battery, domestic violence and stalking cannot be applied to alleged conduct in the other three states.
The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles in late May and obtained by the Daily Mail, accuses Williamson of rape and physical abuse. Doe says she was formerly in a relationship with the Pelicans forward.
Beyond two specific rape allegations, the complaint accuses Williamson of an ongoing pattern of “abusive, controlling, and threatening behavior toward Plaintiff,” according to the filing provided to the Daily Mail by Doe’s attorney.
“We and our client do not want to litigate this case in the press,” Sam Taylor of the Lanier Law Firm said in a statement released at the time. “However, I will say this is a very serious case as reflected in the Complaint filed in Los Angeles County. Our client looks forward to her day in court before a jury of her peers to obtain justice in this matter.”
The complaint states that Doe and Williamson began dating around 2018, while he was attending Duke. She alleges that their relationship continued until June 2023, when Williamson was playing for the Pelicans in the NBA.
Doe alleges that Williamson controlled and harmed her during the relationship, describing the alleged abuse as “sexual, physical, emotional and financial in nature.” She claims he sometimes choked or smothered her, causing her to “reasonably fear for her life,” and also accuses him of threatening her life and the lives of her family members.
After the lawsuit became public, attorneys from Usdin, Kupperman, Freeman & Sarver denied the allegations and accused Doe of demanding millions of dollars in an “attempt to exploit” Williamson. Their statement said Williamson had reported Doe’s alleged “extortion attempts” to law enforcement and planned to file a counterclaim seeking damages over what he called a “defamatory” lawsuit.
Williamson also denies that Doe ever lived with him
In their initial response, Williamson’s attorneys echoed his September claim that the pair never dated, describing their relationship as casual and saying it had ended “years ago.”
Taylor, who represents Doe, responded that Williamson’s statement contained a “number of misrepresentations.”
‘We have every intent to take this matter to trial, openly hold Mr. Williamson accountable and send a message that no one is above the law, “Each of these claims is supported by witnesses and corroborating evidence, but this filing still requires extraordinary courage on her part,”‘ Taylor added.
Doe claims to have been raped twice by Williamson after he moved to Beverly Hills in the fall of 2020 to train during COVID.
After being picked up at a hotel by a person described in the complaint as Williamson’s agent, she was brought to the 6-foot-6 NBA superstar’s home to find he wasn’t there, according to the filing. Doe claims when Williamson eventually did return home late that evening, she tried to leave only for him to call her ‘stuck up’ and a ‘b****’ before demanding sex.
When she refused, Williamson allegedly ‘pinned Plaintiff down on the bed with her hands behind her back and raped her.’
The Plaintiff goes on to accuse Williamson of denying her access to her phone, choking her and yelling at her for ‘talking too much.’
A second rape is alleged to have occurred a month later after Doe told Williamson she wanted to visit a friend in San Diego, according to the filing.
Williamson allegedly told her she couldn’t go before growing angry and throwing things, which the Plaintiff said resulted in her being fearful.
An enraged Williamson allegedly picked up Doe before throwing her down on the floor and violently raping her.
He is then accused of taking her phone and laptop for a period of time to prevent her from reporting the alleged assault or seeking medical care.
Doe insists these were not isolated incidents, but part of a broader pattern of abuse, rape and assault.
The relationship came to an end in 2023.
‘This case shows a disturbing pattern of coercive control, threats, and domination, including stalking, strangulation and threats with a loaded firearm,’ another of Doe’s attorneys, Rachel Lanier of The Lanier Law Firm, said in a statement in May.
‘Mr. Williamson used his wealth and fame to isolate, silence and control my client, who only after many months of medical treatment and counseling is able to come forward and describe what she endured.’
Williamson is seen during a scrimmage in 2018 at Duke, where he allegedly began dating Doe
It’s already been a turbulent offseason for Williamson, who represented the Pelicans at the NBA Draft Lottery.
The mother of his young daughter was arrested in April for allegedly stalking, threatening and beating another woman romantically linked to the power forward.
Police in the exclusive New Orleans suburb of Kenner, Louisiana arrested Ahkeema Love after she allegedly egged her rival’s home, threatening the woman on social media, and later attacking her at Williamson’s house. Cops say the unnamed victim had lacerations on her face, as reported by WDSU.com.
According to officers, Love fled the scene but was arrested nearby on Royal Palm Drive in the Gabriel development, a gated community along Lake Pontchartrain.
Love’s bond was set at $50,000 on Tuesday as she was charged with three counts of home invasion, aggravated battery, and stalking.
Furthermore, Love has been ordered to stay away from the victim and surrender her pistol.
Neither woman is believed to be the Plaintiff in the rape lawsuit against Williamson.
Police in the exclusive New Orleans suburb of Kenner, Louisiana arrested Ahkeema Love (pictured) on Monday after she allegedly egged her rival’s home
Ahkeema Love is the mother of Zion Williamson’s daughter. The two are seen here in 2023
Love and Williamson appear together before a Pelicans game
That was hardly the first drama to come from the 26-year-old Williamson’s romantic life.
He and Love revealed in June of 2023 that they would be having a baby girl, only to have that announcement clouded by allegations that the former No. 1 pick was having an affair with a porn star, Moriah Mills.
In response to Williamson’s birth announcement, Mills, 32, exposed her romantic relationship with the NBA star by sharing alleged screenshots of their intimate text messages.
According to Mills, Williamson never told her that he was seeing anyone, let alone that he was an expecting father.
‘I was with you last week in New Orleans and you couldn’t tell me you had a random thot pregnant after all I’ve done for you @Zionwilliamson,’ Mills tweeted in June. ‘Better pray I’m not pregnant too because I’m definitely late.’
Mills’ Twitter account was ultimately suspended after she threatened to leak sex tapes of herself with Williamson.
She claimed she was involved with Williamson beginning in 2021 and referred to his girlfriend Ahkeema as ‘a low-budget pornstar.’
Mills’ social media rampage included 20 messages in the space of a couple of hours
Mills also made repeated attacks against Williamson on Twitter.
‘You will lose all your endorsements if the sex tapes drop @ZionWilliamson!!’ she wrote.
The first pick of the 2019 NBA Draft, Williamson has failed to live up to lofty expectations in the pros, mostly due to injury and conditioning problems.
Although he’s lost some weight recently, Williamson was shut down at the end of the season after suffering a lower back contusion.
Over 29 games in 2024-25, Williamson averaged 24.6 points and 7.2 rebounds a game, while hitting an impressive 56.7 percent of his field goals.
