Basketball Wives star Jennifer Williams is filing a lawsuit Wednesday against a Manhattan woman for viciously slapping her face during a taping of the reality show.
Williams, also has filed a complaint with the state attorney’s office in Florida, according to her lawyer Sanford Rubenstein.
“Violence used against any person is wrong but when a woman hits another woman it sets a horrible example for young girls everywhere,” Williams told the Daily News. “I choose to use the justice system to fight back,” she said in an exclusive interview.
The defendant, Nia Crooks, is a personal assistant to “Basketball Wives” co-star Evelyn Lozada. Crooks belted Williams while VH1 cameras were rolling Jan. 21 in the presidential suite of the Gulfstream Park racetrack in South Florida.
Williams, who lives in New Jersey, filed the suit in Manhattan Supreme Court because Crooks lives in East Harlem. Williams claims she is still suffering from a whiplash-like neck injury and post traumatic stress stemming from the slap, which was seen in the episode that aired Monday.
“I was sitting at the conference room table and this girl starts arguing with me out of nowhere,” Williams recalled. “She’s not even on the show.” Crooks makes a remark about slapping reality into Williams and cracks her in the face.
“I didn’t watch the video for a long time because I lived it,” she said. “It’s disturbing. It’s humiliating. I get anxiety just thinking about it.” She added: “She hit me with her open hand on my cheek. I’ve never been hit in my life.”
Williams insists the incident was not scripted and the slap was the intentional act of Crooks alone. The suit seeks unspecified monetary and punitive damages from Crooks. VH1 is not named as a defendant.
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