Metro Boomin has been found not liable in a sexual assault lawsuit raised against him.
The case was brought up against the Atlanta producer and songwriter (real name Leland Tyler Wayne) last October. In the filing, a woman named Vanessa LeMaistre sued him for an alleged rape back in 2016.
She claimed that Wayne gave her Xanax and alcohol in a recording studio in Los Angeles, and that she later woke up in a nearby hotel to find him raping her while she drifted in and out of consciousness.
In court, Wayne testified that there was “no way in the world” he raped her, and that their time together was consensual. He also said that he only heard about the accusations when LeMaistre filed the lawsuit.
Now, Rolling Stone has reported that a jury of five men and three women have concluded that Wayne is not liable on any of the four counts outlined in the suit.
During the trial, the lawyer representing the producer, Justin H. Sanders, described the allegations as “preposterous”, and stated that the case was “born out of a drug den in Peru. In the jungle.”
According to outlets including Stereogum, the comments refer to a trip LeMaistre took last year in Peru, where she allegedly participated in an “Ayahuasca ceremony” and ingested the hallucinogen.
The outlet also states that there was a handwritten note from LeMaistre titled ‘Plan Ayahuasca Gave Me’, where she allegedly detailed her plan to “blow the whistle on Metro Boomin” and publish “date rape” allegations on social media.
It also allegedly contained sections that read “We’re asking for 3.4 million to 3.7million” and “P.S. I am a medium”.
In the trial, LeMaistre testified that she reported the alleged rape to a mental health professional back in 2016. She was the only witness on her side that was called to testify, and her lawyer, Michael J. Willemin, told the court about LeMaistre’s life as the child of Haitian immigrants. He also allegedly told them of the death of her nine-month-old son shortly before she met Wayne.
He added that his client was not interested in a sexual relationship with Wayne, but rather seeking a connection with him, as they were both going through a period of grief at the time.
“She has beliefs that I don’t have, maybe people in this court don’t have,” Willemin said (via Stereogum). “But that doesn’t mean she wasn’t sexually assaulted.”
Wayne continuously denied all accusations of wrongdoing. Last November, his attorney Lawrence C. Hinkle II called the accusations “a pure shakedown” and “false” in a statement to Pitchfork.
“Mr. Wayne refused to pay her months ago, and he refuses to pay her now. Mr. Wayne will defend himself in court. He will file a claim for malicious prosecution once he prevails,” he said.
Responding specifically to Hinkle’s comment that this was a “shakedown”, LeMaistre’s lawyers went on to say: “Making defamatory remarks is not going to help Metro Boomin’s cause and we look forward to proving Ms. LeMaistre’s claims in court and ultimately before a jury.”
For more help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.
