James Harden in legal bind after his nephew is accused of raping a woman at his NYE party

Daily Mail​

4 days ago

Los Angeles Clippers basketball star James Harden has been hit with a lawsuit from a woman claiming she was sexually assaulted by his nephew after attending a New Year's Eve party at his mansion.
Texas real estate agent Marisa Watley, 40, claims she was raped by Justice Armani Blackburn - the son of Harden's sister Arnique Jelks - after a party in Harris County, Texas on December 31, 2024.
While only Blackburn is accused of sexual assault, the NBA star has also been named in the complaint.
The suit alleges that his security team were aware that several women were passed out from intoxication in the house and that she was left in a vulnerable condition.
The complaint also claims that the security 'was aware that Mr Blackburn had engaged in criminal conduct towards others' on the night in question.
Harden, who is the ex-boyfriend of Khloe Kardashian, has been sued for negligence after his team 'recklessly failed to protect Ms Watley' on his own property, and 'the result was sexual assault from which she will suffer indefinitely,' the suit adds.
DailyMail.com has reached out to James Harden's agent Troy Payne and the Los Angeles Clippers for comment.
According to the lawsuit, Watley was with two of her friends at a restaurant when the trio became aware of a party happening at a nearby club called Polekatz.
When the group arrived to the club one of Watley's friends is said to have pointed out at around 3:30am that Harden was there with a group in the VIP section. Soon after the same friend learned of an after party happening at the NBA legend's home.
Watley then claims she got into an Uber with her two friends without knowing the destination, before arriving at Harden's property.
The suit reads: 'There was at least one security guard at the gate, and a guard was reviewing guest identification and instructing the guests to leave their phones in their cars.
'Of course, Ms Watley could not do this because she had come in an Uber.'
According to the complaint, it is believed the guard, who checked Watley and her friends' identification before directing them to go into the 'studio' area of Harden's pad, was armed with a gun.
Blackburn allegedly approached the three women at some point in the early morning, though Watley claims she initially did not know he was Harden's nephew.
After introducing himself, Blackburn is said to have offered the trio a drink from the bottle of liquor he was holding, they each took a small sip from the bottle.
Watley claims that her memory from that point onwards is hazy. She also recalls another woman asleep on a couch in the studio.
In the complaint she also alleges that Blackburn repeatedly said to her 'come on, come on' while tapping her on the chest, as though he wanted her to join him somewhere urgently.
The next thing she remembers, according to the lawsuit, is 'being shocked into
consciousness while lying face down on a bed with a man behind her having aggressive sex with her.'
Watley claims she was in a 'dream-like state and was not fully awake' at the time of the alleged rape.
As he then neared an orgasm, Blackburn is accused of demanding to know if she was on birth control. She recalls saying 'no, no, no' before realizing that the man having sex with her was Blackburn.
The plaintiff says in the complaint that she then began frantically looking for her phone and asking him where she could find it. Blackburn allegedly said he had no idea where it was.
Watley claims one of Harden's security guards entered the room shortly after the incident and ordered her to leave the mansion and kicked her out before she could find her phone.
After telling the guard that she had no way of traveling without a phone she alleges that the guard told her that 'Elaina' - which is her sister's name - was coming to pick her up, though it is unclear how that had been arranged. He then walked her to the front gates and closed them behind her.
Watley claims in the complaint that outside the property she stopped a woman walking her dog and asked for help before her two friends pulled up in a car and she quickly got in. She was then finally able to call her sister at around 2:30pm.
Watley alleges that she went to an emergency room on the same day after struggling to recover mentally from what occurred, and she now speaks with a heavy stutter - a symptom of severe trauma.
With the help of her sister, she is currently seeking therapy and psychiatric help.
Harden, who has an estimated net worth of $200million, is now facing allegations of negligence after Watley claimed his security personnel deliberately delayed and prevented her rescue from the property.
Her two friends are understood to have spent hours searching for Watley after they also lost consciousness shortly after drinking from Blackburn's bottle before later waking up, according to the complaint.
When they demanded the security guards let them look for their friend, they claim one of the guards refused and told them there were no more women in the house, the lawsuit says.
Despite missing personal items themselves, and not being allowed to look for them, one of Watley's friends found her iPhone and took it with her.
After using her phone to get in touch with Elaina, according to the complaint, Watley's sister contacted a friend who was able to speak with Harden's sister Arnique. Through the mutual friend, Elaina is said to have threatened that Watley's friends were prepared to call the police if she was not found.
Harden's security team are said to have then kicked Watley out of the mansion shortly after.
According to the lawsuit, Watley is seeking 'economic, compensatory and punitive damages' after the alleged incident.