Soulja Boy ordered to pay $4m after dropping intercourse assault case

US rapper Soulja Boy has been ordered to pay $4.25m (£3.2m) to a lady who accused him of sexual battery and abuse.

The unnamed girl sued the star, whose actual identify is DeAndre Cortez Approach, in 2021, saying he recurrently raped her and beat her and generally stored her as a prisoner after she was employed as his assistant.

Approach had denied abusing her and stated their relationship was consensual – however a jury in a civil trial discovered him accountable for sexual battery, assault and gender violence.

The 34-year-old smiled calmly as the decision was learn on Thursday, in accordance with the Courthouse Information Service.

Talking outdoors the courtroom, he maintained his innocence and stated he was “dedicated to submitting an attraction and preventing for the reality to be revealed”.

Through the trial, Approach denied beating or raping her, calling the accusations “disgusting”.

However after two days of deliberations, the jury awarded his accuser $4m ($3m) in compensatory damages and an extra $250,000 (£200,000) in punitive damages.

“I really feel like I acquired justice,” she instructed Rolling Stone after the decision.

“Clearly, it is not going to return all the things I misplaced. I misplaced far more than I gained. My hope is he does not do that to any extra ladies.”

Soulja Boy is thought for a celebration rap type that spawned hits like Crank That (a US primary single), Kiss Me Via The Cellphone and Fairly Boy Swag.

His industrial peak got here in 2010, when Forbes journal stated he earned $7m (£5.3m), since when he has diversified into report manufacturing and online game growth.

In keeping with courtroom paperwork, the girl was employed as an assistant in 2018 and began a romantic relationship shortly afterwards.

The abuse quickly adopted, she stated. The lawsuit accused him of punching and raping her a number of occasions.

Throughout her testimony, she stated she had misplaced virtually half of her physique weight throughout their time collectively, dropping to virtually 6 stone (39kg), earlier than “I managed to get away from him”.

“I did not even really feel human any extra,” she instructed the courtroom. “I felt like an animal.”

She stated she had stayed within the relationship as a result of Approach threatened to harm her or her household, and instructed her he would submit a sexually express video to the web if she left.

Textual content messages proven in courtroom painted an advanced image of their relationship.

Approach would ask her to carry out duties typical of an assistant, together with making journey preparations or establishing pc tools.

However at different occasions, he would textual content her messages like “I hope u die sluggish”, “I hope you catch corona” and “I ought to have killed your ass”, the jury heard.

In different messages highlighted through the trial, the girl texted Approach: “You physique slammed me on my head and choked me”, and “I ought to have simply allow you to hit me.”

Her lawyer Ronald Zambrano argued that the rapper by no means responded with denials.

Nonetheless, he would apologise, sending messages akin to: “Babe come again let’s discuss significantly” and “Are u okay? I am sorry I like u please name.”

Through the trial, Approach denied that his accuser had been an worker. As a substitute, he claimed, he had provided her a spot to remain in alternate for which she would roll marijuana for him.

Throughout closing arguments, Approach’s legal professional Rickey Ivie maintained that the girl had invented her story and was “motivated by jealousy, revenge and monetary acquire”.

Though Approach was discovered accountable for sexual assault, he was cleared on claims of false imprisonment and constructive dismissal.

It isn’t the primary time that the rapper has confronted such allegations.

In 2023, he was ordered to pay ex-girlfriend Kayla Myers $471,900 (£360,000) stemming from an assault and kidnapping lawsuit she filed in 2020.