New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson is being accused of “sexual, physical, emotional and financial” abuse by a woman he was in a five-year relationship with starting when he was at Duke. The woman filed the lawsuit as Jane Doe in Los Angeles County Superior Court on May 29, 2025.
“This case shows a disturbing pattern of coercive control, threats, and domination including stalking, strangulation and threats with a loaded firearm,” said Jane Doe’s attorney, Rachel Lanier of The Lanier Law Firm, in a statement to Heavy Sports. “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.”
The full complaint filed by the accuser’s attorneys can be read here.
The Pelicans and NBA have not commented about the lawsuit and accusations.
Zion Williamson’s Attorney Called the Accusations ‘Categorically False & Reckess’ & Said They Are Seeking Criminal Charges & Will File a Countersuit Against the Accuser
Williamson’s attorney, Michael Balascio, said in a statement, “We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and we unequivocally deny them. The allegations contained in the complaint are categorically false and reckless. This is the plaintiff’s third set of attorneys. This appears to be an attempt to exploit a professional athlete driven by a financial motive rather than any legitimate grievance.”
While the lawsuit calls the woman Williamson’s former girlfriend, Balascio said Williamson and the accuser “never dated, but did maintain a consensual, casual relationship that began more than six years ago, when he was 18 years old.” He said the relationship “ended years ago,” and “at no point during or immediately after that relationship did the plaintiff raise any concerns. Only after the friendship ended did she begin demanding millions of dollars.”
Balascio said Williamson has reported the accuser’s “extortion attempts to law enforcement. We understand that an arrest warrant was issued in connection with that report, and we are prepared to provide the court with documentation that supports these facts. Mr. Williamson also intends to file counterclaims and seek significant damages for this defamatory lawsuit.”
He continued, “While these allegations are false, we recognize the seriousness of the claims and welcome the opportunity to prove the truth in court. We are confident that the legal process will expose the truth and fully vindicate Mr. Williamson.”
Sam E. Taylor, another attorney for Jane Doe, said in a statement in response, “The published response by Mr. Williamson’s attorney contains a number of misrepresentations, but this is not the time to conduct that debate. 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.”
Jane Doe’s Attorneys Say Williamson ‘Threatened to Kill’ Her & Her Family’ & ‘Held Her Against Her Will’
Lanier Law FirmA segment of the complaint in the lawsuit filed against Zion Williamson.
In a statement from the accuser’s attorneys at the Lanier Law Firm they said, “In the lawsuit, the woman identified as Jane Doe states that Williamson, the first overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft, repeatedly raped and physically assaulted her before she ended the relationship in 2023.”
The statement adds, “The lawsuit also cites multiple instances in which Williamson threatened to kill Doe and her family members, held her against her will and stole her cellphone and computer to prevent her from communicating with others. The lawsuit says many of the alleged acts occurred when Williamson, listed on the Pelicans’ roster at 6 feet 6 and 284 pounds,
was drunk or using cocaine.”
According to her attorneys, “Although many acts of the alleged abuse occurred in various locations across the country, Ms. Lanier says the case was filed in Los Angeles because multiple violent assaults took place in that county.”
The Lawsuit Provides Details of 2 Rape Accusations Against Williamson
Lanier Law FirmThe lawsuit details the accusations against Zion Williamson.
According to the lawsuit, the first incident occurred in Beverly Hills in 2020 while Williamson was renting a house there while training in the area.
“On or about September 23, 2020, Defendant raped and assaulted Plaintiff. Plaintiff was picked up by Defendant’s agent from a hotel where Plaintiff’s brothers were staying. Defendant’s agent brought Plaintiff to Defendant’s home in Beverly Hills. Defendant, however, did not arrive at the home until late that evening,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit adds:
When Defendant got home, Plaintiff told Defendant that she was tired and wanted to go to sleep. Defendant called Plaintiff ‘stuck up’ and a (expletive) and told her that she could not go to sleep without having sex with him. Plaintiff told Defendant ‘no.’ Defendant pinned Plaintiff down on the bed with her hands behind her back and raped her
Afterwards, Plaintiff tried to grab her phone, but Defendant took it from her and threw it across the room. Defendant then choked Plaintiff and yelled at her for ‘talking too much’ Plaintiff recalls the smell of alcohol on Defendant’s breath. After this incident, Defendant did not give back Plaintiff’s phone for a period of time.
According to the lawsuit, “A second rape occurred in Beverly Hills on October 10, 2020. On that day, Plaintiff told Defendant she was considering seeing a friend in San Diego. Defendant told Plaintiff that she could not go. The thought of Plaintiff leaving made Defendant very angry. Defendant threw things in the home, frightening Plaintiff.”
The lawsuit continues, “Then, he picked her up, threw her down to the ground, and pinned her shoulders down so she could not move. Defendant violently raped Plaintiff in multiple ways. Afterwards, 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 Lawsuit Also Includes Details of Several Other Accusations
Jane Doe’s attorneys said in the lawsuit, “These two incidents were not isolated. Defendant continued to abuse, rape, assault, and batter Plaintiff in California and other states, including Louisiana and Texas, until the relationship ended in 2023.”
Williamson is accused of sexually and physically assaulting the woman “multiple times between 2020 in California, Louisiana and Texas,” according to the lawsuit.
It also accuses him of “Strangling Plaintiff with such force that she reasonably feared for her life and eventually lost consciousness multiple times between 2020 and 2023 in California and Louisiana. … Suffocating and/or smothering Plaintiff by forcefully pressing his hands over Plaintiff’s nose and mouth in a manner that prevented Plaintiff from breathing and caused her to reasonably fear for her life multiple times between 2020 and 2023 in California and Louisiana.”
The lawsuit accuses Williamson of carrying her to a location against her will in Louisiana where he “beat raped and strangled her” in 2022.
He’s also accused of striking her with his hands and feet, hitting her head with a car door so hard that she lost consciousness and entering her home without her consent to steal her belongings, the complaints states.
Her attorneys wrote, “Threatening to have his paid security guard shoot Plaintiff in the head while the security guard was present and carrying a loaded firearm multiple times in Louisiana between 2020 and 2023. … Threatening to have his paid security guard kill Plaintiff’s parents, after informing Plaintiff that he knows their home address multiple times in Louisiana between 2020 and 2023.”
The lawsuit states Williamson filmed Jane Doe, “without her consent and threatening to distribute nude videos and images of her when she wanted to break up in California and Louisiana between 2020 and 2023.”
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