The rapper was found liable for claims he assaulted, sexually battered and harassed a Jane Doe plaintiff earlier this year
Soulja Boy was arrested early Sunday morning following a traffic stop on suspicion of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
The rapper, whose real name is DeAndre Cortez Way, was a passenger in a car that was pulled over near the intersection of Melrose Ave. and Genesee Ave. in the Fairfax neighborhood of Los Angeles around 2:50 a.m., according Entertainment Weekly. Police officers allegedly recovered a firearm after searching the vehicle. Way was subsequently arrested on a felony charge and booked into jail at the Los Angeles Police Department’s Wilshire Division.
“A passenger was detained and police arrested DeAndre Cortez Way for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm,” the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement.
Earlier that night, Way celebrated his 35th birthday at the Poppy nightclub in Hollywood. He shared videos of the event on his Instagram Stories, including a clip of himself on the dance floor captioned “I don’t need no security.” The rapper had premiered new music that afternoon during a Twitch stream.
In April, a California jury found Way liable for claims he assaulted, sexually battered and harassed a Jane Doe plaintiff while she worked as his personal assistant, lived with him and entered into a sometimes-consensual intimate relationship with him in 2019 and 2020. The woman reported her alleged abuse to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office in December 2020. In April 2021, the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office “declined to file charges due to insufficient evidence to prove the alleged crimes true beyond a reasonable doubt,” an agency spokesperson previously told Rolling Stone. During the trial, Way denied he abused the woman in any way, claiming they “bonded” during their time together and always acted voluntarily.
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Way has also been accused of physical and sexual assault by former girlfriends Kayla Myers and model Nia Riley, the daughter of musician Teddy Riley. Way appeared on the reality shows Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood and Marriage Bootcamp with Riley. In 2021, Riley sat down with YouTube vlogger TashaK and said Way threatened her with a gun and kicked her in the stomach while she was pregnant, causing her to suffer a miscarriage.
Myers claimed in a prior lawsuit that she had a romantic relationship with Way that ended when he allegedly held a gun to her head, threatened her life, and assaulted her at his home on Feb. 1, 2019. A civil court jury found Way liable for the assault and kidnapping of Myers at a prior trial.
