Wait, what? Former NBA superstar Dwight Howard is making rounds on the internet once again after his name is connected to a s*xual assault case with a man he met on Instagram. The 37-year-old professional big man is now in the middle of a court case, and the documents in his trial have leaked, prompting a field day for internet users.
According to radaronline.com, the publication that obtained Dwight Howard’s court documents, the ex-NBA player was sued by a man named Stephen Harper for allegedly s*xually assaulting him and forcing him to indulge in a non-consensual threeway. The documents also included an exchange of explicit text messages between Howard and Harper.
The accuser has submitted a series of alleged text messages sent by the NBA star. https://t.co/GOIdF1qEPs
— Radar Online (@radar_online) July 19, 2023
In 2021, reports showed that Howard and Harper had been talking with each other for months
Harper admitted that he was the one who reached out to Dwight Howard on Instagram first. He also said they continued communicating via text message for many months until they ultimately decided to meet with each other in July 2021. But, before that, Howard allegedly asked for explicit and “freaky” images from Harper.
Fast forward, Howard requested that Harper come over to the athlete’s house. The plaintiff said he and Dwight went to his bedroom and started making out. Everything was still consensual until, to his surprise, Dwight introduced him to a man dressed in a woman’s clothing named “Kitty”. Harper said in his statement that Howard wanted to have a three-way with him and Kitty. However, he felt uncomfortable and wanted no part in it. Nonetheless, Howard and Kitty were already doing the deed.
— SAY CHEESE! 👄🧀 (@SaycheeseDGTL) October 24, 2023
Harper wanted Howard to stop, but the latter told the former he was “going to do whatever” and he was “going to like it”. The plaintiff said he “feared for his safety” if he ever said no.
“Defendant stood up (towering over Mr. Harper), grabbed Mr. Harper by the thighs, forcibly removed Mr. Harper’s underwear, restrained him, and performed non-consensual oral s*x on him,” the documents said. “Mr. Harper feared imminent bodily harm when he was restrained and forced to remain in place while the defendant continued to s*xually assault him.”
After the act, Kitty drove Harper. The accuser felt “extremely violated and humiliated” after he was forced to do things he did not want. Harper filed a case against Howard, alleging the NBA champion of assault, battery, false imprisonment, and intentional infliction of emotional stress.
Dwight Howard denies Stephen Harper’s accusations and says it was all consensual
The accused athlete shed some light on the accusations made by Stephen Harper. However, the former Orlando Magic star admitted to meeting with Harper and introducing him to Kitty. Instagram DMs, text messages, and Uber receipts proved that Harper indeed came to Howard’s home in Georgia. In his defense, Howard said he believes it was all consensual, even with Kitty in the picture. Dwight’s lawyer supported it by mentioning that “all three agreed to touch each other”. As of this writing, there is still no verdict on the case.
It’s also worth remembering that Dwight Howard was also involved in another controversy with an openly g*y man named Masin Elije. In November of 2018, Elije revealed that he was dating Howard. However, their relationship ended after finding out that Howard was cheating on him with other men. But, it did not end there. Elije filed a lawsuit against Howard for harassing him and threatening him to sign a non-disclosure agreement never to reveal the relationship in public.
In 2019, in an interview with Fox Sports, the 8-time All-Star publicly denied being g*y. This makes you wonder, with the current Stephen Harper lawsuit, Dwight Howard may have been lying to everyone all these years.
"I'm not gay… It hurt at first to go through it. I sat at home and I was like 'I never want to come outside again.'" @DwightHoward spoke on the allegations that he was gay.
(🎥: @FairGameonFS1 | @KristineLeahy) pic.twitter.com/WcXz2WtOfY
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) July 16, 2019
