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A jury in Los Angeles found the rapper Soulja Boy liable for sexual battery and assault, ordering him to pay $4 million to a woman who said that he became violent toward her as their once-professional relationship turned romantic, the woman\u2019s lawyer said.<\/p>\n
The decision on Thursday, which was also reported by The Associated Press<\/a>, came after a nearly monthlong trial, in which the woman said that she had started as the rapper\u2019s assistant.<\/p>\n She accused him of physically and sexually assaulting her over two years. Soulja Boy \u2014 known for songs like \u201cCrank That (Soulja Boy),\u201d \u201cKiss Me Thru the Phone\u201d and \u201cPretty Boy Swag\u201d \u2014 denied the claims during the trial.<\/p>\n \u201cOur client is pleased with and vindicated by the verdict,\u201d Neama Rahmani, a lawyer for the woman, whose name was not revealed in the proceedings, said in a statement. \u201cYesterday\u2019s verdict is just the beginning of justice for Soulja Boy\u2019s victims and a reckoning for the entire music industry.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Reading a statement on his phone, Soulja Boy, whose real name is DeAndre Cortez Way, criticized the verdict outside the Superior Court in Los Angeles County after the verdict.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe this entire process has been tainted by a system that is not designed to protect the rights of the accused,\u201d Mr. Way said. \u201cI want to make it clear that I am innocent.\u201d<\/p>\n The woman who brought the case said that she began working for Mr. Way in 2018 as his personal assistant, according to court documents.<\/p>\n He had agreed to pay her $500 a week to live with him, she said, and provide services that included cleaning, cooking, handling his travel itinerary and doing his hair \u2014 but she said she was never paid.<\/p>\n Shortly after she began working for Mr. Way, 34, she said she began a relationship with him that quickly became violent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In court documents, she detailed multiple instances when she said he subjected her to sexual and physical violence. She accused him of raping her, sometimes multiple times a day, and attacking her so brutally that she lost consciousness.<\/p>\n She also said in court documents that he threatened to have her killed and that at times she was kept in a locked room, sometimes for days at a time.<\/p>\n During her trial testimony, she said that she was barely fed, and that she lost more than half her body weight, according to Courthouse News Service<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t even feel human anymore,\u201d she said. \u201cI felt like an animal.\u201d<\/p>\n At the trial, Mr. Way denied being violent with her, and said he never agreed to hire her as his assistant.<\/p>\n In his closing statement, Mr. Way\u2019s lawyer, Rickey Ivie, said that the woman was offered to stay at Mr. Way\u2019s house in exchange for rolling marijuana blunts, but that pay wasn\u2019t discussed.<\/p>\n \u201cShe was rolling blunts,\u201d Mr. Ivie said, according to Courthouse News Service<\/a>. \u201cShe got room and board. That\u2019s the industry standard.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The jury found Mr. Way liable for assault, sexual battery, gender violence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and nonpayment of wages, in addition to other claims. It did not find him liable for false imprisonment. The jury also awarded the woman $250,000 in punitive damages.<\/p>\n In a statement on Friday, Mr. Ivie said that his client was preparing to challenge the verdict.<\/p>\n \u201cWe maintain that the evidence does not support the verdict,\u201d Mr. Ivie said. \u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n The decision came five years after Mr. Way\u2019s ex-girlfriend, Kayla Myers, accused him in a lawsuit of attacking her during a party at his home in Malibu, Calif., stomping on her stomach and hitting her in the head with a gun, according to court documents. In 2023, a jury found that he assaulted her, and ordered him<\/a> to pay her $471,800.<\/p>\n Mr. Way is also being sued for physical and sexual assault by Nia Riley, an ex-girlfriend who had appeared with him on the reality show \u201cLove & Hip Hop: Hollywood.\u201d<\/p>\n