Former Phoenix Suns first-round pick Josh Jackson has been accused of raping a woman last year at a New York City hotel, according to a federal lawsuit filed by the woman in question.
Jackson, a collegiate standout at Kansas, is also accused of sending two women to break into the plaintiff’s apartment to threaten her, per the suit, which was filed in the Southern District of New York earlier this year, according to The Kansas City Star.
Jackson’s attorney, John Lauro, “emphatically denies” the allegations in court filings, calling them “very serious, albeit entirely false.”
“Mr. Jackson will vigorously contest these allegations in court and looks forward to the truth being fully told,” Lauro told The Kansas City Star.
The woman alleges she met Jackson on Feb. 13, 2022, during a Super Bowl afterparty.
Ex-Nets center Andre Drummond allegedly hosted the party where the two met, and the woman had a romantic interest in Drummond, per the lawsuit.
Jackson and the woman eventually ended up at a club with others, per the complaint, and she claims Jackson texted her later in the night to “come through,” and “I got $1,500 for you if you pull up.”
The lawsuit alleges Jackson sent an Uber to pick the woman up and to bring her to his five-star hotel in Manhattan, the New York Edition.
He is said to have opened the door in just basketball shorts, according to the suit.
The woman’s attorney, Seamus Barrett, said she did not accept the money and arrived to his hotel believing a party was still ongoing.
The woman allegedly told Jackson she was not there for his money and apparently stated, “I am not a gold digger,” per the suit.
Tired, she allegedly laid down on the bed following a night of drinking but faced away from Jackson, falling asleep.
The woman claims she woke up when Jackson allegedly “ripped open” her clothing and sexually assaulted her, according to the lawsuit, before “passing out from the trauma, confusion and the horror of rape.”
She allegedly ran out of the room after waking up hours later.
The woman claims she received “threatening texts” from another man, who is also being sued, that accused her of stealing a watch, “which she said she knew nothing about,” according to The Kansas City Star.
The woman said she received other messages from a different number alleging “they knew her address,” per the report.
She claims to have heard her locked door being opened and two “hoodie-clad” women – whom she alleges were sisters – enter her bedroom, with one appearing to hold a firearm, per the suit.
Her lawyer alleges she was threatened “with murder,” and that doormen tackled the sisters before NYPD officers arrested them.
The woman received temporary protection orders against the sisters, reports The Kansas City Star.
Jackson is accused of having “orchestrated” the armed robbery, per the suit.
“This case is not about money for the (woman),” Barrett said to The Kansas City Star. “It is about making sure the defendants, including Mr. Jackson, are held to account for their outrageous and unlawful actions.”
These allegations are the latest in a string of off-the-court issues that have plagued Jackson.
Jackson was arrested in 2019 for resisting an officer, and was charged in 2017 with misdemeanor property damage, according to The Kansas City Star.
Jackson lasted just five seasons in the NBA, playing for the Suns, Grizzlies, Pistons and Kings.
He last played for the Kings in the 2021-22 season.
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