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Friday did not have a satisfactory conclusion for attorney Rusty Hardin.
After his comment during a radio interview about the “happy endings” during the non-illegal massage sessions went viral, the lawyer representing Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson tried fix things with a statement issued in the late afternoon.
“Deshaun Watson didn’t do anything wrong,” Hardin said. “And as two grand jurors have made clear, Deshaun did nothing illegal. Deshaun has always acknowledged consensual sexual activity with three of the demanding massage therapists after the massages. And Deshaun has repeatedly sworn under oath that he did not force none of his accusers to have sexual intercourse.
“Today, in an interview with a Houston radio show, I mentioned that a massage that has a ‘happy ending’ is not illegal, that is, it is not illegal for someone to have consensual sex with a therapist after a massage unless sex is paid for.Deshaun did not pay anyone for sex.He was using the term hypothetically and does not describe Deshaun’s case.
“I have reiterated to others that it is wrong to do anything that a woman does not agree to do. These women have alleged assaults in their allegations. I was speaking in a hypothetical situation. If there is a consensual sexual encounter after a massage “This is not a crime or the basis of a civil lawsuit. He was not talking about what Deshaun did or did not do or expected or did not expect.”
Hardin’s comment, however, reinforces the argument that Watson wanted or expected “happy endings” and that Watson was actively looking for them. In trying to make a massage sexual, Watson potentially offended and / or touched one or more of the massage therapists with one or more areas of her body in an unwanted or unwanted manner.
This is what the 23 plaintiffs allege, that Watson went too far in trying to turn the massages into a sexual encounter. The mindset expressed bluntly by Hardin’s original commentary, which lies more subtly in his effort to clean up the mess that his remarks made, could ultimately reinforce the 23 pending cases against Watson. If Watson and Hardin do not see anything wrong with a massage becoming sexual and do not see anything wrong with an effort to make a massage sexual, they do not understand the basis of the complaints against Watson: who allegedly crossed the line trying to get the massage to cross the line.