A judge has denied, for now, a bid by a former personal assistant to Soulja Boy — who won more than $4 million against the rapper in a sexual abuse suit — for an order directing one of his companies to pay on the judgment.
Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Mark H. Epstein ruled Friday that although the plaintiff, identified only as Jane Doe, had effectively served notice on Soulja Boy through his attorney, she did not similarly serve the company, SODMG Brand LLC.
“The fact is that although this is a technicality, the court does not have discretion to enforce or not enforce service requirements set by the Legislature,” the judge wrote. “Plaintiff will have to try again.”
On April 10, a Santa Monica Superior Court jury ordered the 35-year-old “Crank That” singer, whose real name is DeAndre Cortez Way, 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 on that part of the case.
Doe’s attorneys contended that when they filed the charging order motion in September, Doe’s judgment, with interest, had grown to about $4,252,650. Way formed the SODMG fashion company in 2023 and is the entity’s only managing member, according to Doe’s attorney’s court papers.
“The amount of $0.00 has been paid on the judgment,” Doe attorney Ronald L. Zambrano says in a sworn declaration in support of the plaintiff’s motion.
In their court papers, Soulja Boy’s attorneys contended the singer and Doe had a “consensual, intimate relationship” for about a year and that he never employed her. But 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.