What was Richaun Holmes accused of and why has he sued Sacramento Bee? Details of domestic abuse case explained
Sacramento Kings center Richaun Holmes was accused of domestic violence towards his son and his ex-wife last season. At the time, Holmes was criticized in the media, specifically by the Sacramento Bee, who he is now suing over five articles published by the outlet.
Sacramento Kings forward Richaun Holmes is suing Sacramento Bee and staffers for defamation over five individual articles that were published, alleging “defendants intentionally, and maliciously, published claims of child and domestic abuse by Mr. Holmes despite easily accessible… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… https://t.co/qat3CiCmaD
According to court filings, in March 2022, Holmes allegedly caused his son to bleed during a visit on Feb. 6 of that year. At the time, there was a temporary restraining order issued. However, further investigation saw Holmes awarded custody.
After the child's mother defied an LA court order and crossed state lines with the child, multiple judges agreed to grant Holmes custody of his son. His lawsuit against the Sacramento Bee alleges that the outlet continued to fault him despite readily available facts contradicting their reports.
Richaun Holmes bouncing back from allegations
As Richaun Holmes and his attorney are claiming, there was a “coordinated and malicious effort to deliberately defame” him. Given how serious the allegations were, that he violently struck his child and drew blood, it was no secret that the way Holmes was viewed around the league was in question.
At the time of the allegations surfacing, Holmes made it crystal clear that he was denying any and all accusations against him. Despite that, the narrative he and his legal team believe the outlet tried to spin is one that has continued to have an impact on Holmes’ both on and off the court.
In a series of Tweets that were eventually deleted, he stated:
“I never respond to allegations but when it’s comes to my son I gotta speak,” Holmes wrote. “You have to be goofy as hell to believe that about me...my heart BEATS for my son i live this very life to see him happy and could never raise a hand to harm him EVER.”
The NBA community was quick to rally around Richaun Holmes, with many backing him up in his claims against the Sacramento Bee. This season Holmes has largely fallen out of the Sacramento Kings rotation after the team acquired Domantas Sabonis. After playing 23.9 minutes per game last season, he’s averaging just 8.7 minutes per game this season as the Sacramento Kings sit in third place in the West.
Below you can see one of Holmes biggest highlights, his poster over Rudy Gobert.