Soulja Boy Ordered to Pay $4.25 Million in Civil Sexual Assault Case

US rapper Soulja Boy has been ordered to pay $4.25 million in damages after a jury found him liable for sexual battery, assault, and gender violence in a civil lawsuit filed by a former assistant. The verdict comes after a lengthy legal battle in which the woman accused the artist—real name DeAndre Cortez Way—of repeated rape, physical abuse, and emotional torment during her time working for him.

The plaintiff, whose identity remains undisclosed, filed the lawsuit in 2021, alleging that Way hired her as an assistant in 2018, but their working relationship quickly became abusive after a romantic entanglement developed. She claimed he frequently beat and raped her, even holding her prisoner on multiple occasions. Despite Way’s claims that the relationship was consensual, the jury found otherwise after hearing extensive testimony and reviewing damning text messages.

Feel Like Justice

“I feel like I got justice,” Soulja Boy’s former assistant told Rolling Stone following the verdict. “Obviously, it’s not going to return everything I lost… My hope is he doesn’t do this to any more women.”

During the trial of the Soulja Boy Sexual Assault Case on her, the woman recounted harrowing details of her time with the rapper, saying she lost nearly half her body weight and dropped to just 39kg before she was able to escape. “I didn’t even feel human anymore. I felt like an animal,” she said in court.

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Jurors awarded $3 million in compensatory damages and an additional $250,000 in punitive damages, reflecting the severity of the abuse. The emotional impact of the relationship was evident in text messages exchanged between the two. Way alternated between issuing commands related to her job and sending chilling messages such as, “I hope u die slow” and “I should have killed your ass.”

The court also reviewed messages in which the woman accused Soulja Boy of physical assault, including “You body slammed me on my head and choked me,” to which Soulja Boy responded with pleas like “I’m sorry. I love u, please call.”

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Soulja Boy To Appeal

While the jury found Way liable for sexual assault and battery, he was cleared of charges related to false imprisonment and constructive dismissal. Speaking outside court, the 34-year-old rapper Soulja Boy maintained his innocence and vowed to appeal the decision.

“This is not over,” he said through his legal team. “We are committed to filing an appeal and fighting for the truth to be revealed.”

This is not Soulja Boy’s first legal entanglement involving abuse allegations. In 2023, he was ordered to pay $471,900 in damages to ex-girlfriend Kayla Myers following a separate assault and kidnapping lawsuit.

Soulja Boy rose to fame in 2007 with the chart-topping single “Crank That” and has since diversified into record production and video game development. While Soulja Boy’s musical peak came over a decade ago with Crank That, his legal troubles continue to dominate headlines—now leaving a $4.25 million verdict as a stark marker of his fall from grace.