Soulja Boy sexual assault civil trial opens in Santa Monica

SANTA MONICA (CN) — The civil trial between rapper Soulja Boy and a woman who says he physically abused and sexually assaulted her when she worked as his personal assistant opened Thursday in Santa Monica.

The woman, who filed her complaint as “Jane Doe,” says she was hired as a personal assistant for Soulja Boy, whose real name is DeAndre Cortez Way — a job she held for nearly two years, during which she was subjected to numerous instances of physical, emotional and sexual abuse. She was promised, according to her civil complaint, $500 a week for working 20 hours per day, seven days a week. Even as a romantic relationship developed between the two of them, she says, he kicked her, punched her, spat on her, and threatened to kill her. The complaint also claims he raped her.

“On numerous occasions, and sometimes twice in the same day, defendant Way would inappropriately touch plaintiff’s body, forcefully pull her pants off, and raped her,” the unnamed plaintiff says in her complaint.

“This is not a frivolous lawsuit,” Ron Zambrano, the plaintiff’s attorney and a partner at West Coast Trial Lawyers, said in his opening statements before the jury. “This is a lawsuit, a claim brought by my client against a very powerful man known as Soulja Boy.”

Zambrano said Way sent his client dozens of profane and threatening text messages, such as: “fuk u bitch… I hope u die slow… Die bitch." Others were conciliatory: “Babe come back let’s talk seriously… Are u ok… I’m sorry I love u please call.” It was, Zambrano said, an abusive cycle that would turn again, with texts like, “You ugly as fuck…. I’ll knock them teeth out, bitch.”

The first time he sexually assaulted her, Zambrano said, was in the bathroom of his house during a police raid, when Way “thought he was going to prison” and wouldn’t get to be with a woman for quite some time. Shortly after the raid, Way was sentenced to prison for 240 days for violating the terms of his probation stemming from a 2014 gun charge. He served between three and four months before being released.

Way, 34, is best known for his 2007 smash hit “Crank That (Soulja Boy),” then performed under the name Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em, which spent seven weeks at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and spawned what was once called “the biggest dance fad since the Macarena.” It was an early example — perhaps even the first — of a digital hit single, a song released straight to the internet without the support of a major label. The song went viral, causing thousands of fans to upload their own versions of the dance.

In 2019, an ex-girlfriend named Kayla Myers sued Way for domestic violence and kidnapping; among other things, she said he “kicked her, stomped on her stomach and bashed her head with a large gun.” In 2021, a jury ruled in favor of Myers and ordered Way to pay her $471,800.

In the current lawsuit, Jane Doe is suing Way for sexual battery, assault, false imprisonment, gender violence, and a range of labor violations, including hostile work environment, constructive discharge, and failure to pay minimum wage.

In his opening statement on Thursday, Way’s attorney, Rickey Ivie of Ivie McNeill Wyatt Purcell & Diggs, painted a starkly different picture of the relationship.

Shortly after Way and the plaintiff met, Ivie told the jury, she came over to his house and slept on the couch. He awoke, Ivie said, to find her rolling blunts — a hollowed-out cigar filled with marijuana.

“Way offered her room and board if she wanted to stay and roll blunts,” Ivie told the jury. “No employment or monetary compensation was offered or discussed.”

Ivie described a tumultuous relationship, loving but tinged with mutual jealousy. But it was not, he said, an employer-employee relationship. And his client, he said, was never abusive. After a fight toward the end of their relationship, Ivie said, the plaintiff hit Way.

“But he didn’t hit her back,” Ivie said. “And he says he’s never hit the plaintiff.”

He added: “Subsequent to filing her lawsuit, the plaintiff has wildly exaggerated her claims.”

The plaintiff is expected to testify next week. Zambrano said he would then call Way to the stand as a hostile witness for the plaintiff.

Follow @hillelaron