HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” will air a report Tuesday night on the Deshaun Watson case, featuring two of the women who have accused the Cleveland Browns quarterback of sexual misconduct or sexual assault.
The show is scheduled for broadcast at 10 p.m. ET.
In all, 22 women have filed civil lawsuits against Watson, who hired them to perform massages. He has denied any wrongdoing.
“HBO approached us and asked if our clients would be willing to speak on the record for the Real Sports program,” attorney Tony Buzbee, who represents the women, said in the statement sent to the Akron Beacon Journal. “As was the case with speaking with law enforcement and the NFL, we left the decision whether to speak publicly up to the clients themselves. Two chose to do so. These women are the most brave and courageous I’ve ever met. This firm is extremely proud to represent them.”
The lawsuits are in the pretrial discovery process, and Buzbee told the newspaper the women are providing information against Watson.
“The evidence against Deshaun Watson continues to mount,” Buzbee said. “The walls, as they say, are closing in. We look forward to trying these cases in court as soon as practicable. We are very confident that, in the end, justice will be done.”
Watson, 26, has not been charged in any of the cases. Two Texas grand juries declined to indict him earlier this year.
Watson is represented by Texas attorney Rusty Hardin, who said on a podcast posted Monday that Watson should not face any discipline from the NFL. The league continues to investigate Watson’s conduct with the women, and commissioner Roger Goodell could elect to suspect the quarterback even in the absence of criminal charges.
Two NFL investigators interviewed Watson last week.
“I’ve always assumed, all the publicity and everything, it’s going to be very hard for the NFL to have the courage to do what I think should be done, which is no finding,” Hardin told host Gabe Feldman on an episode of “Between the Lines: A Podcast About Sports and the Law.”
“The grand jury returned no bills. … A no bill means they cannot find probable cause that there is any evidence of a criminal conduct, and every type of allegation that the plaintiffs have made that would be potentially criminal conduct was rejected.”
Hardin said “our view as to whether there’s any violation of the (NFL’s) code of conduct is actually already decided by the grand jury.”
The Browns acquired Watson on March 18 in a trade with the Houston Texans, surrendering significant draft capital that included three first-round picks and then signed him to a five-year, $230-million fully guaranteed contract.
He took part the Browns’ organized team activity practice Tuesday.
–Field Level Media