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Rusty Hardin’s effort to legitimize the “happy endings” will reverberate in each of the 23 pending lawsuits against Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Lawyer Tony Buzbee, representing the plaintiffs, told John Barr of ESPN.com that Hardin “may have lost his client’s case alone because I will absolutely use that comment because I think he talks a lot about how he, the and your client thinks about the massage industry “.
Buzbee added, “If you’re in the massage industry, according to Rusty Hardin, that’s to be expected. And it seems like that’s what your client was expecting. I promise you that’s not what any of these women were expecting.”
Hardin said in an appearance on Houston radio that “happy endings” are not illegal unless extra money is paid or they. Hardin also said it is not a crime to do or say things that make someone else uncomfortable.
Undoubtedly, these comments are at the heart of the claims against Watson. Plaintiffs will argue that Watson wanted the massages to become sexual and that he tried to make that happen. They will argue that their efforts crossed the line of civil liability.
And Buzbee is absolutely right on a key point. Hardin’s comments on the radio, along with his effort to clean things up with a statement issued Friday afternoon, convey an attitude that men should expect massages to sometimes become sexual. This is obviously not what massages are supposed to be.
As a result of this attitude, men (like Watson, possibly) line up massages and hope that they will turn the massage into something else. No doubt Watson tried to make these things happen. Indifference with this admission will make Buzbee’s cases a little easier to prove.