New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson has been named in a civil lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court by a woman identified as Jane Doe, who alleges the NBA star raped and abused her over the course of a five-year relationship that began during Williamson’s time at Duke University.
The complaint outlines two alleged instances of rape occurring in a Beverly Hills rental in 2020, while asserting that the abuse continued in multiple states, including Louisiana and Texas, until the relationship ended in 2023. The plaintiff accuses Williamson of multiple offenses, including sexual battery, assault, domestic violence, false imprisonment, and stalking.
“These two incidents were not isolated,” the lawsuit states, alleging a “continuing pattern of abusive, controlling, and threatening behavior” throughout the relationship. The complaint describes the abuse as sexual, physical, emotional, and financial.
The lawsuit includes graphic allegations of violence, including strangulation to the point of unconsciousness, physical beatings, threats involving a firearm, and substance use by Williamson during some of the alleged incidents.
The accuser is seeking unspecified damages across nine causes of action. Her attorney, Sam Taylor of the Lanier Law Firm, told the Los Angeles Times that the client “looks forward to her day in court” and is not currently planning to file related lawsuits in other jurisdictions.
Attempts by the Times to reach Williamson’s representatives for comment were unsuccessful as of Friday.
No criminal charges have been filed in connection with the allegations, and Williamson has not publicly responded to the lawsuit.
