Soulja Boy ordered to pay $4m after losing sex assault case

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

The unnamed woman sued the star, whose real name is DeAndre Cortez Way, in 2021, saying he regularly raped her and beat her and sometimes kept her as a prisoner after she was hired as his assistant.

Way had denied abusing her and said their relationship was consensual - but a jury in a civil trial found him liable for sexual battery, assault and gender violence.

The 34-year-old smiled calmly as the verdict was read on Thursday, according to the Courthouse News Service.

Speaking outside the court, he maintained his innocence and said he was "committed to filing an appeal and fighting for the truth to be revealed".

During the trial, Way denied beating or raping her, calling the accusations "disgusting".

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

"I feel like I got justice," she told Rolling Stone after the verdict.

"Obviously, it's not going to return everything I lost. I lost way more than I gained. My hope is he doesn't do this to any more women."

Soulja Boy is known for a party rap style that spawned hits like Crank That (a US number one single), Kiss Me Thru The Phone and Pretty Boy Swag.

His commercial peak came in 2010, when Forbes magazine said he earned $7m (£5.3m), since when he has diversified into record production and video game development.

According to court documents, the woman was hired as an assistant in 2018 and started a romantic relationship shortly afterwards.

The abuse soon followed, she said. The lawsuit accused him of punching and raping her several times.

During her testimony, she said she had lost almost half of her body weight during their time together, dropping to almost 6 stone (39kg), before "I managed to get away from him".

"I didn't even feel human any more," she told the court. "I felt like an animal."

She said she had stayed in the relationship because Way threatened to hurt her or her family, and told her he would post a sexually explicit video to the internet if she left.

Text messages shown in court painted a complicated picture of their relationship.

Way would ask her to perform tasks typical of an assistant, including making travel arrangements or setting up computer equipment.

But at other times, he would text her messages like "I hope u die slow", "I hope you catch corona" and "I should have killed your ass", the jury heard.

In other messages highlighted during the trial, the woman texted Way: "You body slammed me on my head and choked me", and "I should have just let you hit me."

Her lawyer Ronald Zambrano argued that the rapper never responded with denials.

However, he would apologise, sending messages such as: "Babe come back let's talk seriously" and "Are u ok? I'm sorry I love u please call."

During the trial, Way denied that his accuser had been an employee. Instead, he claimed, he had offered her a place to stay in exchange for which she would roll marijuana for him.

During closing arguments, Way's attorney Rickey Ivie maintained that the woman had invented her story and was "motivated by jealousy, revenge and financial gain".

Although Way was found liable for sexual assault, he was cleared on claims of false imprisonment and constructive dismissal.

It is not the first time that the rapper has faced 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.