Stephen A. Smith has claimed that the details of the Dwight Howard lawsuit, namely that he performed non-consensual acts on model Stephen Harper, is the reason that Howard went unsigned in the NBA this past offseason. The ESPN personality made his claims on the most recent episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show, becoming visibly disgusted while reading Harper's account of what Howard did to him following an invitation for a threesome at Howard's home.
Dwight Howard has formally denied sexually assaulting model Stephen Harper. Howver, he did not deny inviting Harper to his home for a threesome, which allegedly involved an individual named Kitty. Based on the accounts given by Howard and Harper, it is unclear if Kitty is a transgender individual or simply a cross-dresser. Furthermore, Harper alleges that he was forced to perform sexual acts on Howard and that Howard performed non-consensual acts on him after he objected to participating in the account. Howard has been sued by Harper but has not been formally charged with a crime.
Ma$e Focuses More On Howard's Sexuality Than His Sexual Assault
Meanwhile, on It Is What It Is, Ma$e gave a similar conclusion to Smith. However, the rapper focused more on Howard's sexuality than the claims of sexual assault. We gotta stop saying it doesn't matter what happens behind closed doors because it does matter. People wouldn't be talking about it if it didn't matter. There's a reason that 30 teams didn't sign Dwight Howard," the rapper argued. At no point in the monologue does Ma$e refer to the accusations being made against Howard.
However, it's not the first time that Ma$e has addressed the Dwight Howard allegations. Back in August, he and Cam'ron appeared to imply that Dwight Howard's sexuality was more of a concern than the sexual assault allegations against him. In the episode, Cam'ron claimed that days before the assault allegations were made public, Howard's team reached out. Their intention was apparently to secure an appearance for Howard. Cam'ron then proceeded to ask his co-host how he would react. In particular, given the revelations, how he would react if he was on a team and playing with Howard. "I don't want to say it because we're on the air. But I would probably want Howard to have his own space," Ma$e argued. The comment implied that he would want Howard segregated from the team due to his attraction to men.
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