Grammy award-winning producer and songwriter The-Dream is in search of to have massive elements of a sexual assault lawsuit filed towards him thrown out.
The 47-year-old, born Terius Gesteelde-Diamant, was accused of rape and sexual battery in June by a former protégé, Chanaaz Mangroe, who carried out as Channii Monroe.
In response, Mr Gesteelde-Diamant, who has written songs for Beyoncé, Rihanna, Justin Bieber and Mariah Carey, denied the allegations.
On Friday, his authorized representatives filed to have the case thrown out, calling the claims “a textbook instance of a ‘shotgun pleading’.”
The time period ‘shotgun pleading’ is used to explain a criticism which units out a number of allegations with out offering the opposite facet with truthful discover of the claims.
In courtroom paperwork seen by BBC Information, the attorneys requested for a number of amendments to Ms Mangroe’s criticism, insisting sure paragraphs are “immaterial” and “scandalous”.
They’re in search of to dismiss the rape declare, arguing rape just isn’t a separate civil explanation for motion below California regulation.
Additionally they argued the intercourse trafficking declare fails to allege required parts like a “business intercourse act”.
His authorized representatives additionally requested for his label Contra Paris, LLC to be faraway from the swimsuit, as it’s based mostly in Delaware and due to this fact lacks private jurisdiction in California.
“The criticism is a textbook instance of a ‘shotgun pleading’ and should be dismissed in its entirety for failing to attribute particular factual allegations to every defendant,” mentioned Desirée F. Moore, an lawyer representing Mr Gesteelde-Diamant.
She added that Mangroe’s criticism “accommodates dozens of allegations which are totally irrelevant to her sexual battery and intercourse trafficking claims and are, as an alternative, designed solely to smear Diamant’s identify and repute.”
According to the lawsuit filed in June, Ms Mangroe says Mr Gesteelde-Diamant repeatedly pressured her to have intercourse, throttled her and on one event filmed an intimate encounter after which threatened to indicate it to different folks.
In accordance with the 60-page lawsuit, Ms Mangroe is in search of damages for “misplaced wages” and for “psychological ache and anguish and extreme emotional misery”.
Ms Mangroe, initially from the Netherlands and who labored within the US hoping to interrupt by means of as a singer and songwriter, mentioned within the lawsuit she first met Mr Gesteelde-Diamant in January 2015.
The 33-year-old alleges he “subjected” her to “violent sexual encounters” that left her bruised; pressured her into consuming “extreme quantities of alcohol”; strangled her to the purpose she “virtually misplaced consciousness”; pressured her into sexual acts in a film theatre and raped her in a renovated sprinter van.
She additionally says he “informed her that he would make her the following Beyoncé and Rihanna”.
Inside days of that preliminary assembly, Ms Mangroe claims Mr Gesteelde-Diamant had begun pressuring her for intercourse, telling her it was “a part of the method”, the lawsuit claims.
The 33-year-old says he locked her in a darkish room and “would solely cease aggressively having intercourse together with her as soon as she mentioned that she liked him”.
Ms Mangroe alleges within the lawsuit that undesirable sexual encounters continued, whereas Mr Gesteelde-Diamant made her guarantees corresponding to suggesting he might prepare for her to be the opening act of Beyoncé’s subsequent tour, and Grammys.
Mr Gesteelde-Diamant has received eight Grammy Awards and was nominated for the newly created class of Songwriter of the 12 months on the sixty fifth Grammy Awards in February 2023.
In a press release provided by a consultant of Mr Gesteelde-Diamant to the New York Occasions in June, he mentioned the claims are “unfaithful and defamatory”.
“I oppose all types of harassment and have at all times strived to assist folks understand their profession targets,” the assertion mentioned.
“As somebody dedicated to creating a optimistic influence on my fellow artists and the world at massive, I’m deeply offended and saddened by these accusations.”
BBC Information has approached Ms Mangroe for a response.
