Dwight Howard has had one heck of a week.
Howard has denied accusations by a Georgia man who says he was sexually assaulted by the former NBA star and another person.
Stephen Harper filed a state civil lawsuit against Howard in July, alleging assault and battery, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Now Howard and his team have released an official statement about his recent allegations:
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This is a civil case that was made public for profit. In this case, the accuser is solely suing Dwight Howard and has refrained from suing the other party in which he claims to be involved. It is important to know that these matters were NEVER about sexual assault. This was merely about money and greed. Such individuals, have made continuous attempts to elicit payment from Dwight. This has resulted in intimidation of not only Dwight, his family and friends have also been targeted as well.
The accuser took to social media, only after being ignored by Howard.
Over the duration of several years the accuser has set out to hire attorneys whom either declined the case or dropped the case after payment from Dwight was denied.
Dwight hopes that people spend as much time covering his innocence, his numerous ventures to improve the lives of people through his global initiatives, his efforts to improve the quality of life of all people, despite race, creed, culture, sex, sexual orientation, and others.
Through efforts like his 750 acre farm, his community outreach, and his 18yr track record of global philanthropy, Dwight looks forward to fans, viewers and spectators alike to focus their time and energy on what matters, which are the positive endeavors that Dwight is actively working on for community, with negativity as the least important focus.
In the past, people have tried to take advantage of Dwight, by attempting to use blackmail for money by fabricating stories and taking advantage of his kind nature.
By taking immediate action, Dwight’s legal team is aggressively pursuing anyone who is online or otherwise attempting to go after his name with false claims. Dwight strongly empathizes with any real cases of sexual assault and believes that fabricated stories as such make it difficult for the real victims of true crimes to come forth.
Assault has never been an element in Dwight’s character and he has never sexually assaulted ANYONE. The insensitivity of the individuals making such claims to damage his reputation is unfortunate. However, Howard plans to continue to live his life with grace and not let such false claims ruin his joy + spirit.
Best + Blessings,
Dwight Howard + Team
