New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson has formally denied allegations that he raped and abused a woman who is suing him in Los Angeles, describing their past involvement as an “infrequent and sporadic” consensual sexual relationship.
In court papers filed on Monday, the 26-year-old basketball player denied “each and every allegation” contained in the unidentified woman’s second amended complaint. His lawyers characterised the relationship as a “friendly and casual ‘friends with benefits’ sexual relationship”.
The latest filing represents Williamson’s formal response to a civil case first brought in Los Angeles County Superior Court in May 2025. The plaintiff, identified only as Jane Doe, alleges that Williamson subjected her to sexual, physical and emotional abuse during what she describes as a relationship lasting from 2018 until 2023.
Williamson disputes accuser’s account
Williamson’s lawyers maintain that every interaction between the pair was consensual and that the woman ended their involvement after becoming upset that he was concentrating on professional basketball and fatherhood.
“All interaction among and between the Plaintiff and Defendant was pleasant and entirely consensual, with the Plaintiff initiating and communicating her desire to be intimate with the Defendant,” his court filing states.
The defence also argues that the woman’s claims are barred by applicable statutes of limitations.
Her second amended complaint lists causes of action including assault, battery, sexual battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, domestic violence and stalking. Earlier claims of false imprisonment and conversion, which appeared in the original complaint, are not included in the latest version.
The lawsuit alleges that Williamson raped the woman twice in 2020 at a Beverly Hills property he was renting. She also accuses him of strangling her until she lost consciousness, striking and kicking her, threatening to kill her and members of her family, and pointing a loaded firearm at her head.
These remain unproven civil allegations, and Williamson denies that any assault or abuse occurred.
When the case was first reported, Williamson’s lawyer, Michael Balascio, called the allegations “categorically false and reckless”. His legal team alleged that the woman had attempted to extort him and said the matter had been reported to law enforcement.
The woman’s lawyers rejected the defence’s characterisation of the case and said their client was seeking justice through the courts.
Viral $62,000 claim came from a different woman
Online reports linking the current lawsuit to a supposed dispute over $62,000 appear to conflate the Jane Doe case with allegations made three years earlier by adult entertainer Moriah Mills.
In July 2023, Mills alleged in a TikTok video that Williamson had physically abused her and claimed he had promised to send her $62,000. She said at the time that she had not received the money.
No reliable evidence establishes that Mills is the Jane Doe plaintiff in the Los Angeles lawsuit. The lawsuit also does not identify its plaintiff as Ahkeema Love, the mother of Williamson’s child.
Claims that Williamson’s “baby mother” made the current abuse allegations after he refused to pay $62,000 therefore combine separate controversies involving different women and different periods.
Mills’ 2023 statements were allegations made publicly on social media. They were not court findings, and the $62,000 claim is not the basis of the Los Angeles civil action now being contested by Williamson.
Jury trial scheduled for 2028
The Jane Doe lawsuit is proceeding as a civil case, meaning it concerns claims for damages rather than criminal charges. No court has determined that the allegations against Williamson are true.
A jury trial is currently scheduled for April 2028, although the timetable could change as Williamson’s lawyers pursue their limitation defence and other challenges to the complaint.
Williamson was selected by the Pelicans with the first overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft after one season at Duke University. He has twice been named an NBA All-Star, although injuries have repeatedly interrupted his professional career.
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