Several Deshaun Watson accusers sit for interview with HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel

Cleveland Browns Introduce Quarterback Deshaun Watson
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As the NFL moves inevitably toward deciding whether to suspend Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson for some or all of the 2022 season, or whether to wait until the 22 civil lawsuits pending against him have resolved, some of his accusers will be speaking out.

“Several” of the women who have accused Watson of sexual misconduct during massage sessions have been interviewed by HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. Soledad O’Brien serves as the reporter on the story.

Per a press release from HBO, the women “detail the alleged abuse they suffering and share their reactions to” Watson’s $230 million contract with the Browns.

The show debuts Tuesday, May 24, at 10:00 p.m. ET.

68 responses to “Several Deshaun Watson accusers sit for interview with HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel

  1. The everlasting nightmare of being a Browns fan continues… Head hung in shame. Thanks front office leadership.

  2. 6 picks, and the highest guaranteed contract every for this. The most Browns move ever.

  3. Good. The NFL showed with the Ray Rice case that they’ll pick and choose who gets punished and try to get away with as much as they can while only caring about the optics. There’s no video for this case, and the NFL would be elated to sweep it under the rug like they have with other high profile players. Whether watson is guilty or not it shouldn’t just disappear because he has money and fame.

  4. Bad timing for Watson. Some of the accusers on TV Tuesday night & perhaps a decision from the league next Friday before a holiday weekend.

    I believe he’ll be suspended for 25 games (2022 season & half of 2023).

    League is going to emulate the Trevor Bauer suspension. NFL does not want to be viewed as anti woman.

  5. Can we send the Browns to London to anchor NFL Europe II?

  6. To “protect the shield,” Roger may want to announce a stiff punishment AFTER the interviews air.

  7. How’s that “adult” at Quarterback looking for you Cleveland?!

  8. I am willing to believe the possibility that this guy didn’t break any laws and maybe that he doesn’t even think he acted inappropriately. I’m also willing to believe that some of these women are just after money. but all that being said, I don’t understand why these cases weren’t settled a long time ago. It doesn’t even matter if all these cases end up getting dismissed for lack of evidence or whatever. This is all going to hang over him forever.

  9. This will give us an opportunity to judge the credibility of the accusers and the seriousness of the allegations. Should get good ratings.

  10. The arrogance to not settle is what I find unbelievable..you got out of Texas..you got your money..obviously you acted inappropriately why not pay the money and move on n

  11. HBO/Time Warner better tread lightly here with this subject and timing of the still unresolved civil court cases. Watson can sue them for unsubstantiated rumors regardless of these woman’s statements.

  12. This is an absolute PR disaster for Watson and the Browns. Baker Mayfield has got his popcorn ready!!

  13. They have to be elated with the $250M contract. Watson has no excuse for not paying the settlement immediately.

    Have the accusers names been made public yet? If they are going public then their names should be public also.

  14. Great. Another case settled by the media instead a courtroom with a jury of peers. I’m sure HBO Sports won’t be sitting down with Deshone Watson to allow him to provide his account.

  15. They wanna get paid.
    One way or another.
    ===========

    If thats all they wanted, wouldn’t they have settled already?

  16. Someone should have asked the Browns during their Watson press conference, after they claimed they looked into the allegations, if they do not expect him to be suspended based on their “thorough” investigation. Their GM should be fired over this.

  17. Deshaun, I don’t really know who is advising you but they aren’t looking out for your best interests! You have 230 million dollars of ” sign here for your money and here for your NDA”! Then accept an eight game suspension and move on! Know this Deshaun your skill set doesn’t fit a what may turn out to be three years out of the game!

  18. Let me guess, the Browns brass will have something going on Tuesday night and won’t be able to watch.

  19. I feel bad for the apparent victims.

    But the Browns hubris and stupidly leave me enjoying their unfolding disaster here.

  20. If he settles then he his basically acknowledging guilt in some way
    so I get that part of it. I just have a problem with the number of women accusing him. They all can’t be lying. Anyway the NFL is in a bad spot and have no choice but to come down on hard on him.

  21. How often do 22 women make an accusation that has no merit?

    Whether it gets prosecuted or not, it’s clear what he did, why he did it, how elaborately he set it up, how much of it was built around plausible deniability. Illegal or not, it’s exploitative, dehumanizing, and abusive.

    With the signing and the sleazy lowball first-year pay, the Browns show they are complicit in helping him avoid accountability.

    Watson and the Browns have shown they have no sense of shame, so it’s time for the court of public opinion to heat up, a lot.

  22. Full disclosure I believe that Watson should be suspended and that what he did was creepy, so I am not taking his side in this. That being said Buzbee is just a high priced ambulance chaser. How does having his clients go on TV and possibly leak details that would be used in testimony in a court of law sound like an even remotely good idea?

    If he wants to get justice for his clients, he should be keeping things under wraps until the case is settled. He risks tainting the jury by allowing these interviews. That would just get the case thrown out and possibly letting Watson off the hook from a legal standpoint.

  23. The Browns fans should prepare for Jacoby Brissett to start, Watson to be suspended for most of the season and Mayfield doing stadium maintenance for $18 million a year.

  24. I don’t have much of a prurient curiosity, but it will be interesting to learn just how freaky this guy is because it will show what the Browns have to deal with the next several years. If it turns out all the stuff is blown up for money grabbing then everything will be okay for the Browns in the end.

  25. The Least Interesting Man Alive says:
    May 20, 2022 at 12:22 pm
    They wanna get paid.
    One way or another.
    ===========

    If thats all they wanted, wouldn’t they have settled already?

    ________________________________________

    Watson has not offered to settle because he refuses to admit guilt. That’s why this whole thing is dragging on.

  26. I saw the accusations of what he allegedly did. Gross. And yeah, he should have settled already, he appears to be a dummy by acting that way and then not settling it. That said, these he said, she said situations aren’t fair to Watson if you’re only allowing one side to speak.

  27. The Browns thought they outsmarted the NFL by only giving Watson a $1M salary in 2022. King Roger could very well let all this bad press play out throughout 2022 then announce a full 2023 suspension if he wants.

  28. It will be interesting to hear how the women describe Watson’s behavior to see if the Browns were successful in getting an adult for QB.

  29. The Least Interesting Man Alive says:
    May 20, 2022 at 12:22 pm
    They wanna get paid.
    One way or another.
    ===========

    If thats all they wanted, wouldn’t they have settled already

    ————
    Watson rejected the idea of settling

  30. Watson likely truly believes he didn’t do anything wrong. But that’s our fault in a large sense. Since he was 10 yrs old people have altered his sense of reality, he’s been coddled and told he can do no wrong. Relative to the standards the rest of us have, Watson should be in big trouble with the law…but he’ll likely get relatively little punishment…but that’s the fault of society who idolizes and thinks nothing of paying someone $40M for throwing or catching a ball…meanwhile first responders, fire fighters, police, teachers, etc largely live paycheck to paycheck…this real issue is us, how we’ve allowed these sports organizations, which do not allow competition (due to antiquated laws), to become monopolies (go ahead, you can open a commercial airline, but you can’t open an NFL franchise….makes no sense)

  31. Get that jersey out with the names of all the failed QB’s in Brown town since Bernie a new name will be added…

  32. Great. Another case settled by the media instead a courtroom with a jury of peers. I’m sure HBO Sports won’t be sitting down with Deshone Watson to allow him to provide his account.
    ————————–

    I guarantee you that HBO offered to interview Watson but he “declined to comment” because no lawyer in their right mind would let him get interviewed.

  33. txdr says:
    May 20, 2022 at 1:26 pm

    Watson likely truly believes he didn’t do anything wrong. But that’s our fault in a large sense.

    =====

    No it isn’t. In a league with hundreds of multi-millionaires and dozens of franchise QBs, only he has done this. It’s his fault.

  34. As I understand it, the ladies haven’t been paid yet. I’m not sure this is a smart move.

  35. How can the Browns go from blowing out Pittsburgh in the playoffs recently to this S show. Even for the Browns, this seemed like hard work to accomplish.

  36. You all get that the Browns wouldn’t have offered this contract without knowing what the basic punishment is going to be, right?

    I highly doubt it with this group.

  37. James says:
    May 20, 2022 at 2:00 pm
    Great. Another case settled by the media instead a courtroom with a jury of peers. I’m sure HBO Sports won’t be sitting down with Deshone Watson to allow him to provide his account.
    ————————–

    I guarantee you that HBO offered to interview Watson but he “declined to comment” because no lawyer in their right mind would let him get interviewed.
    ______________________

    This might be an indicator that the accusers are not happy with the result they are getting from the legal system…..so they continue to move into the “court” of public opinion for pressure to settle.

    It will be interesting to hear if they offered Watson a rebuttal opportunity.

  38. Wow, so thats a very well and smartly played ratings grab. Whether or not you like what the media does you have to admit this is them doing it well.

  39. The Texans are the real winners here the browns may have overplayed and overpayed for a player who might not play this season and possibly ever again sorry to the loyal Browns fans who deserve better.

  40. Browns players and coaches can’t wait for the season to start so they can answer ten questions about Watson and one question about the game at press conferences.

  41. I keep seeing it reported that the Browns structured Watson’s contract with a low 1st year salary so that he has less to lose if he is suspended. Don’t almost all big NFL contracts get structured this way for cap reasons? I think they do.

  42. I’m sure they only reason these women are doing this interview is because HBO paid them very well to do so. Buzbee is an idiot for letting them do this and i hope that it blows up in his face. It’s all about the money.

  43. jacunn2000 says:
    May 20, 2022 at 11:22 am

    The everlasting nightmare of being a Browns fan continues… Head hung in shame. Thanks front office leadership.

    _________________________________________________________________________

    Lots of room on the Bangles bandwagon. Go ahead and jump on and go away!

  44. You Browns fans hanging your heads in shame right now won’t be later when Watson is balling and the Browns are a powerhouse in the AFC.

  45. Once again, thanks from a life long Viking fan. We no longer made the worst trade in NFL history )Herschel Walker trade).

  46. axlrush says:
    May 20, 2022 at 2:22 pm
    You all get that the Browns wouldn’t have offered this contract without knowing what the basic punishment is going to be, right?

    I highly doubt it with this group.
    ————————————
    Please show us ANY Proof You have of your claim,….We will wait…..smh…..

  47. slash says:
    May 20, 2022 at 5:06 pm
    You Browns fans hanging your heads in shame right now won’t be later when Watson is balling and the Browns are a powerhouse in the AFC.
    ——————————-
    Even if what you say is true, the Stench of this situation will Over Shadow any Wins that Watson ends up helping the Browns with on the field….EVERY Win!……smh…

  48. Have any of you considered that there were 2 Grand Juries assembled in 2 different counties in Texas that heard the evidence in these cases and declined to indict Watson on any criminal charges at all??

    Have you also considered that it would have been very very easy for Watson to have settled these cases quickly and somewhat quietly early on in this situation but he didn’t settle them because he said he didnt do anything wrong and wanted to clear his name?

    Have any of you ever even considered that this man might actually be innocent and that just because you’re accused of something it doesn’t always mean you did it…
    especially when there is a lot of money at stake.

    Do you think all of these women called Buzbee to represent them or do you think Buzbee got information on the therapists Watson used and contacted them to see if they wanted a potential pay day??

  49. @badthing03 I find it as soon as they find the proof that Watson is guilty in a criminal court of law.

  50. Yeah, as a Browns fan, there will always be stench associated with any success with Watson. There certainly is with everything the Steelers did with Ben.

  51. There’s always a stench with the Ravens with Lewis and Rice. As there is with the Chiefs and Hill and the Cowboys and Elliot and the Patriots and Hernandez…

  52. A smart lawyer doesn’t allow their client to make public statements and interviews prior to trial for fear of giving up cross examination ammo. They can drive publicity other ways. Then again, no one ever said this lawyer for the plaintiffs was smart.

  53. When you can’t win in the court of law, win in the court of public opinion I guess

  54. People asking why Watson didn’t just settle the cases brought against by a pack of sought after liars by a lying dirty lawyer. If I’m accused of something that I feel I’m not guilty of, there is no way I’m going to give those liars a dime regardless of how I rich I was.

    IMO, I don’t think there is many people in the world that will say they’re guilty of something they know that they’re not guilty of, and if you do, you’re just plain stupid, and don’t care if they extort money from you bc you have plenty of it. Personally, I would fight giving them my money even if it cost me every dime I had. The next person that falsely accuses me, they will know that I’m not paying them a dime, so lets go ahead and pick a jury, period!!!

  55. There are 18 professional masseuses that claim their experience with completely inconsistent with the sick claims of the 22 alleged victim masseuses. Everyone would like to hear their story as well. The media has said very little about these other 18 women. and if all 18 are lying in his defence, then there must be a motive. Money is always the best paper trail to follow.

  56. axlrush says:
    May 20, 2022 at 5:52 pm
    @badthing03 I find it as soon as they find the proof that Watson is guilty in a criminal court of law.
    ————————
    So, in other words, you do not have ANY Proof of your claim that Cleveland had prior knowledge of how long Watson is to be suspended, right?…..smh…..

  57. Signing Watson for all those picks and $230 was a miscalculation of the most EPIC proportions by the Browns. This very well may go down as the biggest blunder in all of sports history when it’s said an down.

    This guy has not taken a single NFL snap since these accusations came to light. He is going to be under a microscope that few have ever experienced. People are never going to stop talking about this. He is going to be jeered and hated everywhere. Who knows if he’ll be able to perform anywhere near his prior level under such scrutiny and pressure?

    We’ll have to wait and see, but the Browns just might possibly have sunk their franchise for another 15-20 years. Unbelievable stupidity on their part.

  58. Here’s the funny part of all this….Watson is very likely to fall on his face and fail miserably. He’s been out of the game over a year, he’s likely going to get another year off….he’ll never be the same. It’s amazing how dumb the Browns are!

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