A judge says he wants more briefing on a request for nearly $3 million in attorneys’ fees by a former personal assistant to Soulja Boy after she won a large jury verdict, but the judge indicated in a tentative ruling that the request was too large.
On April 10, a Santa Monica Superior Court jury ordered the 34-year-old “Crank That” singer to pay the plaintiff $4 million in compensatory damages and $250,000 in punitive damages. Identified only as Jane Doe, the plaintiff later accepted a reduction in punitive damages to $50,000 to avoid a retrial in that part of the case.
The singer’s real name is DeAndre Cortez Way.
As the prevailing party, Doe is entitled to attorneys’ fees and her lawyers requested $2.9 million. In rebuttal papers filed previously with Judge Mark Epstein, Soulja Boy’s lawyers called Doe’s request “staggering” and “based on inflated hourly rates, unsupported multipliers and vague or excessive billing.”
On July 30, the judge stated in a tentative ruling that Doe’s “showing is insufficient — especially for a fee of that size” and said he was denying her request with a chance to bring another motion within 30 days.
Epstein later stated he wanted more briefing from attorneys and he scheduled another hearing on the issue for Oct. 16.
The case was cleared for trial in 2024 when Epstein denied a motion by the singer’s attorneys to dismiss multiple causes of action. In their court papers, Soulja Boy’s attorneys contended that the singer and Doe had a “consensual, intimate relationship” for about a year and that he never employed her.
In her suit filed in January 2021, Doe said she was hired by Soulja Boy in December 2018. Her duties included cooking and bringing food and snacks, carrying personal belongings or luggage, styling the rapper’s hair, driving him and handling travel plans, the suit stated.
Soulja Boy paid the plaintiff $500 weekly for her services and she lived and worked seven days a week, 20 hours daily, at his homes in Malibu and Bell Canyon, the suit stated.
The two allegedly became romantically involved, but from January 2019 to December 2020 he allegedly sexually abused her and did not pay her overtime while also committing other wage and hour violations, her suit alleged.