A plaintiff in a sexual assault lawsuit is claiming that James Harden, 35, was negligent when his nephew allegedly raped her at the Los Angeles Clippers star’s Texas mansion.
Per NBC News, the sexual assault lawsuit claims that the woman, identified as 40-year-old Marisa Watley, was at Harden’s house for his New Year’s Eve party in 2024 when his nephew Justice Armani Blackburn raped her. The incident is said to have happened after the party.
The defendants named in the lawsuit filed in Texas on Monday include Harden, Blackburn, unnamed security guards, and their employer. The lawsuit claims Harden hired the security guards, and those guards had the opportunity to step in to ensure the alleged rape did not occur. The lawsuit also claims that Harden is “vicariously liable for the actions of his guards and their corporate employer.”
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“Plaintiff Marisa Watley was brutally raped by Defendant Justice Armani Blackburn following a New Years Eve party at Defendant James Harden’s mansion home,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit claims that on New Year’s Eve, Watley and two friends went to a club for a party after they initially met at a restaurant. While at the club, they spotted Harden at the VIP section around 3:30 a.m. and became aware of a party he was hosting at his residence.
The lawsuit states that when they got to the 35-year-old’s mansion, an armed security guard reviewed their IDs and instructed them to make their way to the recording studio, NBC News reported.
The lawsuit claims the three women later passed out after Blackburn handed them drinks, adding that Watley’s consciousness was negatively affected after that.
“The next thing Ms. Watley recalls is being shocked into consciousness while lying face down on a bed with a man behind her having aggressive sex with her,” the lawsuit claims.
Watley claims that a security guard then ordered her to get out of the home. The lawsuit also claims that the plaintiff’s friends had already been locked out of the home after they were made to leave – though they informed security guards that Watley remained inside. They also said they did not exit the home with some of their possessions.
And though the security guards told them that all the women had left the home, they later saw other women coming out. The lawsuit also claims that Watley’s friends informed the security guards that Watley was seemingly untraceable in the home, and the guards also knew other intoxicated women had passed out in the home.
“Nonetheless, Mr. Harden’s security team recklessly failed to protect Ms. Watley on Mr. Harden’s property — and the result was a sexual assault from which she will suffer indefinitely,” per the lawsuit.
The plaintiff’s friends used her phone to call her sister, and she notified the police. Watley later came out of the home after 1:29 p.m., the lawsuit claims.
“Since New Year’s Day, when I reported the rape by Mr. Blackburn to the police, I have remained puzzled by how Mr. Harden’s security behaved that day — it is painful to imagine that this all could have been stopped in time. I hope this complaint pushes security employees generally to act more responsibly when women are in danger,” Watley said in a statement.
Watley, who is a real estate agent, is seeking over $100,000 in damages and a jury trial.
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