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Rusty Hardin’s efforts to legitimize the “happy ending” will resonate in each of the 23 pending lawsuits against Browns quarterback Deshon Watson.
Lawyer Tony Busby, representing the plaintiffs, told John Barr of ESPN.com that Hardin “may have lost his client’s case himself, because I will absolutely use that comment because I think he talks a lot about how he, his team, and his client are thinking about the massage industry. “
Busby added: “If you’re in the massage industry, according to Rusty Hardin, that’s to be expected. And apparently that’s what his client expected. I promise you she didn’t expect any of these women. “
Hardin said in a radio appearance in Houston that the “happy ending” is not illegal unless extra money is paid or so. Hardin also said it is not a crime to do or say things that make someone else feel uncomfortable.
These comments probably go to the heart of the claims against Watson. The plaintiffs will claim that Watson wanted the massages to be sexual and that he tried to do so. They will argue that his efforts have crossed the line of civic responsibility.
And Busby is absolutely right on one key point. Hardin’s comments on the radio, along with his efforts to clear things up with a statement issued late Friday afternoon, convey the view that men should expect massages to become sexual at times. Obviously not what massages should be.
As a result of this attitude, men (like Watson, no doubt) arrange massages and hope to switch from massage to something else. Watson probably tried to do these things. Indifference to this confession will make Busby’s deeds a little easier to prove.
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