SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) — A jury on Thursday discovered that rapper Soulja Boy was answerable for sexually assaulting and bodily and emotionally abusing a former assistant, awarding the lady $4 million in damages.
The choice from the Los Angeles County jurors got here after a three-week trial in Santa Monica, California. The trial has moved to a second section for doable punitive damages, which might imply an even bigger award.
The 34-year-old Soulja Boy, whose authorized identify is DeAndre Cortez Approach, was discovered answerable for assault, sexual battery and intentional infliction of emotional misery. Jurors didn’t discover him answerable for false imprisonment and different allegations.
“Today’s verdict is just the beginning of justice for Soulja Boy’s victims, and other victims in the music industry,” plaintiff’s lawyer Neama Rahmani mentioned in a press release.
Lead protection lawyer Rickey Ivie mentioned he was withholding remark till the decision is finalized.
Soulja Boy has beforehand denied the allegations in courtroom filings.
The lady was not recognized by identify within the lawsuit she filed in 2021, and The Related Press doesn’t sometimes identify individuals who say they’ve been sexually abused.
She mentioned she started working for Soulja Boy in 2018, and he agreed to pay her $500 per week for cleansing his home, cooking for him and doing different private duties. However she says she was by no means paid.
The 2 started a romantic relationship, and shortly after he started abusing her, raping her, kicking her, punching her and threatening her with violence and demise, her lawsuit alleges.
She believed she was in love with him, and he manipulated her into staying till 2020 regardless of repeated acts of violence, the lawsuit says.
She was crushed and raped once more when she returned to retrieve her issues months after leaving him, the lawsuit says.
The Chicago hip-hop artist is finest identified for his 2007 single “Crank That (Soulja Boy),” which went to No. 1 on the Billboard Scorching 100 and introduced him a Grammy nomination for finest rap track.
