Sacramento Kings center Richaun Holmes was charged with domestic violence toward his son and ex-wife last season. At the time, Holmes was criticized in the media, specifically by the Sacramento Bee, whom he is now suing over five articles published by the outlet.
Sacramento Kings forward Richaun Holmes is suing the Sacramento Bee and staff for defamation over five individual articles that were published, alleging that “defendants intentionally and maliciously published allegations of child and domestic abuse by Mr. Holmes even though they were easily accessible… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… https://t.co/qat3CiCmaD
According to court documents, in March 2022, Holmes allegedly caused his son to bleed during a visit on February 6 of that year. At that time, a temporary restraining order was issued. However, further investigation saw Holmes award custody.
After the boy’s mother defied a Los Angeles court order and crossed state lines with the boy, multiple judges agreed to award Holmes custody of her son. His lawsuit against the Sacramento Bee alleges that the outlet continued to blame him despite available facts that contradicted his reports.
Richaun Holmes recovers from the accusations
As Richaun Holmes and his lawyer claim, there was a “coordinated and malicious effort to deliberately smear him.” Given the seriousness of the allegations, that he violently beat his son and drew blood from her, it was no secret that the way Holmes was viewed in the league was in question.
At the time the allegations surfaced, Holmes made it clear that he denied any and all accusations against him. Despite that, the narrative that 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 comes to my son, I have to speak up,” Holmes wrote. “You have to be dumb as hell to believe that about me…my heart BEATS for my son, I live this very life to see him happy and I could never raise a hand to harm him EVER.”
The NBA community was quick to get behind Richaun Holmes, with many backing him in his claims against the Sacramento Bee. This season, Holmes has largely dropped out of the Sacramento Kings’ rotation after the team acquired Domantas Sabonis. After playing 23.9 minutes per game last season, he is averaging just 8.7 minutes per game this season as the Sacramento Kings rank third in the West.
Below you can see one of Holmes’ highlights, his poster on Rudy Gobert.