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The
decision from the Los Angeles County jurors came after a
three-week trial in Santa Monica, California.
The 34-year-old Soulja Boy, whose legal name is DeAndre Cortez
Way, was found liable for assault, sexual battery and
intentional infliction of emotional distress. Jurors did not
find him liable for false imprisonment and other allegations.
They found the woman should get about $4 million in compensatory
damages and another $250,000 in punitive damages.
“Today’s verdict is just the beginning of justice for Soulja
Boy’s victims, and other victims in the music industry,”
plaintiff's attorney Neama Rahmani said in a statement.
Lead defense attorney Rickey Ivie said in his own statement: “We
maintain that the evidence does not support the verdict. It is
unfortunate that aspersions and misperceptions of a culture were
allowed to influence the trial. Mr. Way fully intends to pursue
his post-trial remedies and to fight for a just result in this
case.”
The woman was not identified by name in the lawsuit she filed in
2021, and The Associated Press does not typically name people
who say they have been sexually abused.
She said she began working for Soulja Boy in 2018, and he agreed
to pay her $500 a week for cleaning his house, cooking for him
and doing other personal tasks. But she says she was never paid.
The two began a romantic relationship, and soon after he began
abusing her, raping her, kicking her, punching her and
threatening her with violence and death, her lawsuit alleges.
She believed she was in love with him, and he manipulated her
into staying until 2020 despite repeated acts of violence, the
lawsuit says.
She was beaten and raped again when she returned to retrieve her
things months after leaving him, the lawsuit says.
The Chicago hip-hop artist is best known for his 2007 single
“Crank That (Soulja Boy),” which went to No. 1 on the Billboard
Hot 100 and brought him a Grammy nomination for best rap song.
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