According to court documents obtained by ESPN this week, Dwight Howard admitted to having a relationship with the man but denied the sexual assault and battery allegations against him. Howard reportedly said in a court filing that he engaged in “consensual sexual activity” with a man named Stephen Harper at his Georgia residence.
Earlier this summer, former NBA star Dwight Howard was accused of sexually assaulting a man at his home in July 2021 but denied any interaction with the man.
In the original complaint filed in July, Harper’s lawyers said he and Howard first began corresponding over direct messages on Instagram in May 2021, with Harper initiating the exchange. Harper accused Howard of sexually assaulting him at Howard’s home during the subsequent July 2021 encounter.
…Harper’s complaint includes screenshots of alleged Instagram exchanges between Harper and Howard from 2021, along with an Uber receipt of Harper’s trip to Howard’s residence on the night of the encounter.
Harper went to police a year later, according to a July 2022 incident report from the Gwinnett County Police Department, which was obtained by ESPN. No charges were filed.
Dwight Howard’s attorney, Justin Bailey, issued a statement to ESPN suggesting the allegations are being made for “profit.”
“What was a private consensual encounter was made public for profit and Mr. Howard looks forward to bringing the truth to light in a court of law,” he said. “The allegations against Mr. Howard are contested. Mr. Howard intends to present the truth.”
“The truth is Mr. Howard blocked Mr. Harper on social media and then was confronted with two options — pay to protect his reputation or have a fabricated story made public. Despite being an easy target due to the subject matter and his status as a celebrity, Mr. Howard chose to trust in the justice system and will rely on all future court filings to speak for themselves.”
Howard is not facing criminal charges.