After hearing days of harrowing testimony from a woman who used to live with Soulja Boy, a jury in Los Angeles ordered the rapper to pay her $4.25 million. Soulja Boy, whose real name is DeAndre Way, was found liable for claims including sexual battery, assault, and gender violence, Courthouse News Service reports. He was also found liable for intentional infliction of emotional distress, sexual harassment, and nonpayment of wages, though the jury cleared him of a false imprisonment claim. The woman said Way raped and kidnapped her after she started working as his personal assistant in 2018 and they entered a romantic relationship that became "violent and toxic," reports Variety.
The woman testified that she weighed 150 pounds when she started working for Way and just 86 pounds when he was sent to jail for a probation violation in 2019. "I wanted to die," she said. "I just wanted to go home." Way "raped her, he punched her, he kicked her, he cut her," the woman's attorney, Richard Zambrano, told the jury, per Rolling Stone. "He pointed a Draco gun at her. He locked her in a room, threatened her family, threatened her, denied her food." Way denied abusing the woman, saying the relationship was consensual and text messages like "Die b----. Shoulda killed your stupid a--" were not meant to be violent, Variety reports. His lawyers argued that photographs of her bruises didn't prove Way had inflicted them.
Rolling Stone reports that Way had a "slight smile" when the court clerk began speaking, but it faded as damages mounted. He was ordered to pay $4 million in compensatory damages and $250,000 in punitive damages. During the punitive phase of the trial, Way said he didn't have $4 million "just to pull out and pay" and his income has plummeted recently, partly because of the accusations, CNS reports. In 2023, he was ordered to pay $472,000 to an ex-girlfriend who accused him of assault and kidnapping. (More Soulja Boy stories.)
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