sexual assault
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Gloria Trevi — arguably one of the most successful Mexican pop acts of all time — has weathered trials and tribulations throughout a long career, but she’s now facing a legal battle over renewed allegations of serious sexual wrongdoing.
The dispute resurfaced in December 2022, when two unnamed Jane Does filed a lawsuit alleging that Trevi and Sergio Andrade, her ex-producer and manager, had “groomed” and “exploited” them when they were between the ages of 13 and 15. The lawsuit also named backup singer María Raquenel Portillo, also known as Mary Boquitas, over her alleged involvement in the abuse.
Trevi has for many years categorically denied such claims. In a statement released after the December 2022 lawsuit was filed, she wrote: “These false accusations, which were first made against me 25 years ago, have been tried in various courts and, in all instances, I have been completely and totally acquitted. For these old, disproven claims to resurface now is tremendously painful for me and for all my family. The accusations were false when they were made and remain false today.”
The story dates back decades. Trevi, Andrade and Portillo were arrested in 2000 in Rio de Janeiro — where they had fled to avoid prosecution — for allegedly luring young girls into a cult-like pornographic ring where they were kidnapped, raped and corrupted. All three were eventually extradited to Mexico, where Trevi was acquitted in 2004 on charges of rape, kidnapping and corruption of minors.
“Many people don’t understand that I wasn’t detained for a crime. I was part of a process,” Trevi told Billboard in 2014. “I was exploited by those who I was working with. All I did was [to] be loving, faithful and loyal. God picked me up. He protected me. He took me out. I was cleared. I was released. I’ve never committed a crime.”
Trevi scored her first big hit in 1990 with the anthemic “Dr. Psiquiatra,” becoming the first Latin female rockstar with her signature untamed hair, ripped tights and leather vests. Since, Trevi has established a 40-year career of hitmaking and touring success. To date, she has four No. 1s on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart and has entered Hot Latin Songs a total of 12 times, including three top 10s with “Con Los Ojos Cerrados” and “Me Siento Tan Sola” from the ’90s and “Cinco Minutos” from 2008.
In August, Trevi released the bio-series Ellas Soy Yo, which chronicles her rise to stardom as an adolescent to become Mexico’s biggest pop star, her involvement in the Trevi-Andrade sex scandal, her time in prison and her return to the stage after being found not guilty. Trevi is currently on her Live Nation-produced Soundtrack Tour visiting over 30 cities across the United States, including L.A., New York, Chicago and Miami.
Facing the new civil lawsuits over the Andrade sex abuse claims, Trevi filed her own counter-lawsuit in December. She claimed that it was Andrade who was the “true predator” that had subjected Trevi and other girls to “total control and sadistic abuse,” and that her Jane Doe accusers had actually been “enlisted to perpetuate his abuse.”
Billboard reached out to Trevi’s team for additional comment on the accusations but had not heard back at press time.
To get caught up on the full story, here’s a timeline of the messy legal saga, from the filing of the cases to where things stand today.
Two Jane Does Sue Gloria Trevi
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A former producer and executive who worked with Russell Simmons has sued the mogul, alleging that he sexually assaulted her in the 1990s.
According to reports, Hip-Hop pioneer and Def Jam Recordings founder Russell Simmons was hit with a lawsuit Tuesday (Feb. 13) in Manhattan, New York. The lawsuit, filed by a woman referred to as “Jane Doe,” claims that Simmons raped her in the late 1990s in his apartment. The woman describes herself as a former senior music executive and music video producer who worked for Def Jam during that time.
In the filing, Ms. Doe claimed that Simmons had invited her to his place to view a rough cut of a music video. Soon after she arrived, his demeanor went from business to being sexual, which she brushed off as a joke. He then pulled a “wrestling move” and pinned her down before allegedly raping her. She detailed how she tried to fight him off, but was unable to. She would further detail how Simmons sexually harassed her afterward at the office, invading her personal space. The lawsuit says she resigned from Def Jam in 1997.
Her lawyers, Kenya Davis and Sigrid McCawley, stated that their client was moving up in her career before the sexual assault. “She was proud of her contributions to the burgeoning musical genre of hip hop, but her hard work and her career in music was disrupted and derailed by Mr. Simmons, a rich and powerful celebrity whose wealth and influence allowed his abusive behavior to go unchallenged for decades,” they said in a statement. “Now a successful writer and producer in the entertainment industry, Jane Doe’s traumatic experiences with Simmons echo those of so many other women who he has preyed upon for decades.”
The lawsuit was filed under the New York’s Adult Survivors Act and the New York City Gender Motivated Violence Act. Both laws contain “lookback windows,” which allow for the filing of lawsuits that wouldn’t occur due to being outside of the statute of limitations. Russell Simmons faced other lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault in 2018 and was the subject of the On The Record documentary in 2020 where other accusers detailed their allegations against him. Simmons has stated in the past that he had been in “compromising situations,” but claimed in an interview that he took and passed nine lie detector tests concerning those allegations.
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Source: Ethan Miller / Getty / Vince McMahon
The Vince McMahon era at the WWE has officially come to an end.
*Trigger warning: this post will touch on alleged sexual assault*
It was only a day after some alarming allegations about Vince McMahon accusing the WWE founder of sexual assault, trafficking, and other disgusting things, and now he is out at TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of the WWE and UFC.
McMahon remains defiant despite stepping down and claiming his innocence in the matter.
Per Deadline:
“I stand by my prior statement that Ms. Grant’s lawsuit is replete with lies, obscene made-up instances that never occurred, and is a vindictive distortion of the truth,” McMahon said this evening of the scorching lawsuit against him filed earlier this week. “I intend to vigorously defend myself against these baseless accusations, and look forward to clearing my name.”
“However, out of respect for the WWE Universe, the extraordinary TKO business and its board members and shareholders, partners and constituents, and all of the employees and Superstars who helped make WWE into the global leader it is today, I have decided to resign from my executive chairmanship and the TKO board of directors, effective immediately,” the WWE co-founder added.
McMahon was hit with the People’s Elbow in the form of a lawsuit filed by former WWE employee Janel Grant, which shared details about disturbing sexual assault allegations.
We previously reported about those allegations where Grant was described as being constantly sexually abused by McMahon and other WWE employees and an unnamed WWE superstar, but according to The Wall Street Journal’s reporting, was former WWE Champion Brock Lesnar.
Per HHW’s Reporting:
The lawsuit also details the “extreme cruelty and degradation” Grant was allegedly subject to, accusing McMahon of defecating on her during a threesome, “commanding her to continue pleasuring his ‘friend’” while his waste was in her hair and running down her back.
McMahon is also accused of using sex toys he named after WWE superstars on Grant and making her engage in sexual acts with other WWE employees like head of talent relations John Laurinaitis, who is also named in the lawsuit.
There was also an incident detailed in the lawsuit where McMahon and Laurinaitis corned Grant in Laurinaitis’ locked office during a work day and took turns sexually assaulting her, ignoring her pleas for them to stop.
Social media continues to hit McMahon, who should have been gone long ago with a virtual smackdown. You can see those reactions below.
2. Well damn
3. The accuracy
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It seems Diddy will stay away from the public eye much longer than many expected. He will not be attending the 2024 Grammy Awards despite being nominated.
Digital Music News is reporting that the Bad Boy Entertainment mogul will not be in the house for the 66th edition of the ceremony that will honor the best in music. The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively confirmed this with one of Diddy’s representatives. His decision to bow out seems to stem from the multiple allegations of sexual assault made against the New York City native. While the Board of Trustees of the Recording Academy have not formally rescinded his invite, they told Radar Online on Dec. 11 that they are “taking very seriously and we are in the process of evaluating it with the time and care that it deserves.”
Diddy’s latest effort, The Love Album: Off The Grid, was nominated for Best Progressive R&B album along with SZA’s SOS, Janelle Monáe’s The Age Of Pleasure, 6LACK’s Since I Have A Lover and Nova by Terrence Martin and James Fauntleroy. This nod marks Diddy’s first Grammy Award nomination since 2004 when he won for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for “Shake Ya Tailfeather” with Nelly and Murphy Lee.
In the past, the Recording Academy has faced criticism for including talent facing scandal. Last year, Dave Chappelle, Dr. Luke and Louis CK were all respectively nominated for awards. In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, they made it clear that the nominations do not necessarily reflect the feelings of the Academy. “Our job is to evaluate the art and the quality of the art. The thing that we can control is making sure that people that attend our events feel safe … and don’t feel threatened by anyone,” Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said.
Diddy has denied all the allegations against him.
Madison Square Garden executive James Dolan is facing a sexual assault lawsuit that claims he pressured a masseuse into unwanted sex while his band was touring with the Eagles — and that he later facilitated an incident in which she was also assaulted by Harvey Weinstein.
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday (Jan. 15) in Manhattan federal court, Kellye Croft says that Dolan coerced her into “unlawful and unwelcome sex acts” on repeated occasions after she was hired to serve as a massage therapist for the Eagles’ Glenn Frey during the 2013 tour.
Croft says she thought the job on the concert tour — on which Dolan’s band JD & The Straight Shot opened for the Eagles — was “her big break” and the “opportunity of a lifetime.” But she says she quickly realized the real reason she was there.
“Dolan was extremely assertive, and pressured Ms. Croft into unwanted sexual intercourse with him,” writes Croft’s attorney, Douglas Wigdor. “Ms. Croft was disgusted by Dolan, but her youth and extreme loneliness while on the road with strangers, as well as Dolan’s immense power, made it possible for Dolan to manipulate Ms. Croft and lure her under his control.”
Dolan is the majority owner/CEO of Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp., a live music giant that operates the famed New York City arena in addition to Manhattan’s Radio City Music Hall, the Las Vegas Sphere and other prominent venues.
Tuesday’s lawsuit also claims that Dolan later secretly orchestrated a 2014 encounter between Croft and his friend Weinstein, the disgraced film producer whose many sexual assault allegations helped spark the #MeToo movement in 2017. Weinstein is currently serving a decades-long prison sentence after being convicted on multiple felony charges.
Croft’s lawyers say Dolan arranged the early 2014 meetup, during which Weinstein allegedly invited her to his hotel room under the guise of discussing an opportunity for her to work as a massage therapist for actors on movie sets. After she refused his “escalating” behavior and returned to her room, her lawyers say Weinstein chased her down the hall, “barged into Ms. Croft’s hotel room” and proceeded to sexually assault her.
In a response sent to Billboard, Dolan’s attorney, E. Danya Perry, said there was “absolutely no merit to any of the allegations against Mr. Dolan” and that the references to Weinstein were “simply meant to inflame.” Perry alleges the claims were an “act of retaliation” by Wigdor, describing him as “an attorney who has brought multiple cases against Mr. Dolan and has not, and cannot, win a judgment against him.”
“Mr. Dolan always believed Ms. Croft to be a good person and is surprised she would agree to these claims,” Perry wrote. “Bottom line, this is not a he said/she said matter and there is compelling evidence to back up our position. We look forward to proving that in court.”
In his own statement, Wigdor said that “our firm has not lost multiple cases to Dolan — that is a fabrication.” He said that with the filing of the lawsuit, “it is time to finally hold Dolan accountable for his outrageous conduct.”
In addition to Dolan and Weinstein, the lawsuit also names several entities owned by The Azoff Company, the privately held company founded by legendary music industry executive Irving Azoff. Though Azoff himself is not individually named as a defendant, the lawsuit claims he was “extremely close friends” with Dolan as well as a frequent business partner — and that Azoff’s companies thus enabled Dolan’s alleged abuse.
“In addition to the extremely close personal relationship between Dolan and Irving Azoff, Dolan was a critically important business partner for the Azoff Entities,” Croft’s lawyers write. “The Azoff Entities thus benefited from facilitating Dolan’s behavior to the extent it kept their partner, a notoriously erratic billionaire, happy.”
In a statement to Billboard, a representative for Azoff strongly denied the lawsuit’s allegations: “Irving Azoff is not a party to this lawsuit. Neither he nor his companies had any involvement in any alleged misconduct by others.”
An attorney for Weinstein did not immediately return a request for comment.
More than six months after Jimmie Allen was first sued for sexual assault, the country star is splitting with his lawyers — and one of his accusers claims he’s delaying the case by doing so.
In a court filing last month obtained by Billboard, Allen’s lawyers, Jonathan Cole and Katelyn R. Dwyer from the prominent Tennessee law firm Baker Donelson, asked to withdraw from the case, saying the singer had been “unable to comply” with the terms of his representation agreement.
The filings (first reported by The Tennessean) contained no other details about the reason for Allen’s split with his lawyers. But they quickly prompted a response from his accuser’s attorney, who argued last week in her own filing that Allen had already cycled through three different law firms over the past year — and that he was stalling the case in the process.
“Allen has a track record of moving through attorneys,” wrote Elizabeth A. Fegan, counsel for Allen’s Jane Doe accusers. “These tactics are part of Allen’s continuing pattern of conduct to forestall plaintiff’s right to gather discovery to pursue her claims.”
After nearly eight months of litigation, Fegan argued that Allen had thus far “failed to produce the most basic information” during “discovery” — referring to the legal process in which key evidence is exchanged during a lawsuit. She claimed that Allen’s current attorneys at Baker Donelson are in possession of some materials, but that they “do not intend to produce it” before they withdraw from the case.
A rep for Allen did not immediately return a request for comment on the new dispute.
Allen, a once-rising country music star, was sued twice last year for sexual assault — first by a member of his management team who claims he harassed and assaulted her, then again by a woman who says he assaulted her in a Las Vegas hotel room and secretly recorded it. Both women sued as anonymous Jane Does.
The current filings only apply to the first case filed by the Jane Doe who served on Allen’s management team. Fegan did not oppose Cole and Dwyer’s similar motion to withdraw from the second case over the alleged Las Vegas incident, and that request was granted last week.
Allen has strongly denied all the accusations, saying he would “mount a vigorous defense.” He later counter-sued both women, accusing the management employee of defaming him and claiming that the other woman had stolen the phone he allegedly used to record her.
According to the new filings by Fegan (who represents both Doe accusers), when she first contacted Allen regarding her clients’ accusations, he was represented by Frost Brown Todd LLP, another well-known regional law firm. She said she later corresponded with another lawyer (Andrew Brettler of the firm Berk Brettler LLP) before Cole and Dwyer, the attorneys from Baker Donelson, appeared as Allen’s formal counsel when the lawsuit was filed in court.
Since then, she claimed Allen has “not responded to or provided any information pursuant to any of plaintiff’s discovery requests.” Given that there are “impending deadlines” — including a February cut-off for discovery — Fegan argued that allowing Cole and Dwyer to withdraw from the case would result in “severe prejudice.” Instead, she asked for a court order forcing them to turn over key information about the current status of the discovery process before they leave the case.
“Without this information, Plaintiff is unable to diligently prosecute her claims, meet the Court’s current deadlines, or adequately prepare for depositions,” Fegan wrote.
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High-profile figures in Hip-Hop continue to be hit with sexual assault accusations. In the latest, rapper T.I. and his wife, R&B singer Tiny, have been sued for sexual assault and sexual battery in Los Angeles.
TMZ reports that the couple have been sued by a Jane Doe who claims that she was drugged after meeting in a nightclub. The woman claims her drink was spiked before she was taken to a hotel where they allegedly engaged in a threesome, per her lawsuit.
The Jane Doe claims she was a member of the U.S. Air Force and located in L.A. around 2005 when she met a man named “Caviar,” who allegedly worked for T.I. and Tiny, at a party at the late rapper Coolio’s home. According to the lawsuit, although T.I. and Tiny never made it to the party, Caviar relayed that they should all meet the next day at a nightclub in Los Angeles.
However, the woman claims it was all a setup.
Reports TMZ:
The woman says she ordered 2 Amaretto sours on her own, before Tiny allegedly handed her another drink … one from which she never saw Tiny sip, and which the woman also shared with her friend.
When T.I. decided to leave the club, the woman claims he asked her to ride with Tiny and him … while her friend would ride with “Caviar,” who said they were all going to the same place.
But, that’s not how it played out, allegedly … in the suit, the woman says 2 other women she didn’t know got in an SUV with Tiny, T.I. and herself, and all 5 of them ended up in a hotel room — but Tiny kicked out the other 2 women, because one was flirting too much with T.I.
And then things took an extra sordid turn, allegedly.
Once it was just the 3 of them … she alleges Tiny took her into the bathroom, where she took off both of their clothes and then a naked T.I. joined them and they all got in the shower.
Afterward, she claims she was starting to feel lightheaded and extremely dizzy, and T.I. told her to go to the bed. While he watched some porn, she alleges he handed her massage oil and demanded she give him a rub down. Eventually, Tiny joined them and allegedly pinned the woman on her stomach and began rubbing and grinding her naked body on the plaintiff.
While that was happening, she alleges T.I. penetrated her vagina with his toe, and she told him “no” as she tried to push him away. According to the suit, he got up and said he was going to get a condom — but the plaintiff says she went to the bathroom to vomit. She claims T.I. mockingly laughed at her and said, “Are you alright? Looks like you in last place.”
The plaintiff claim that she woke up the next morning with her vagina in pain. She is suing T.I. & Tiny for sexual battery, assault, negligence and false imprisonment.
The Harris’ vehemently deny the charges.
“On the heels of positivity, negativity always rears its ugly head,” said T.I. and Tiny in a joint statement to TMZ. :This plaintiff has been threatening to file this lawsuit for THREE years. For THREE years, we have emphatically and categorically denied these allegations. For THREE years we have maintained our innocence and refused to pay these extortionate demands for things we didn’t do. For THREE years, we’ve maintained the same position while the claims in this story have changed time and time again. Our position is clear… We are innocent of these fake claims, we will not be shaken down, and we look forward to our day in court.”
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You can add Vin Diesel to the list of celebrities who now have a bad name, allegedly. The actor’s former assistant is now accusing him of sexual battery.
Vanity Fair is reporting that the man born Mark Sinclair is facing some very serious allegations. Asta Jonasson says she worked for the movie star during the filming of Fast Five back in 2010. According to the paperwork, Jonasson claims she was hired to support Vin in his day to day duties which ranged from organizing his schedule to attending events with him. Asta says in September of that year that Vin Diesel groped her at his suite in the St. Regis Hotel.
“Ms. Jonasson was afraid to more forcibly refuse her supervisor, knowing that getting him out of that room was both crucial to her personal safety and job security,” the documentation reads. “But this hope died when Vin Diesel dropped to his knees, pushed Ms. Jonasson’s dress up toward her waist, and molested her body, running his hands over Ms. Jonasson’s upper legs, including her inner thighs.” She says that he then pinned her to the wall and pleasured himself. Hours later Asta received a phone call from Vin’s sister Samantha Vincent who informed her that she was terminated from her job.
Bryan Freedman, Vin Diesel’s attorney, gave an exclusive statement to Vanity Fair refuting the allegations. “Let me be very clear: Vin Diesel categorically denies this claim in its entirety” he said. “This is the first he has ever heard about this more than 13-year-old claim made by a purportedly 9-day employee. There is clear evidence which completely refutes these outlandish allegations.”
Vin Diesel has yet to comment on the matter.
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Source: MEGA / Getty / Diddy
Diddy continues to lose out on multiple bags due to the sexual assault lawsuits levied against him.
Spotted on Variety, a reality show in early production following the embattled music mogul and his family, has been scrapped by Hulu.
The website reports that the show was being developed with the working title Diddy+7 and James Corden’s production company, Fulwell 73, producing.
The scrapped reality show is the latest blow to the Diddy, born Sean Combs’ crumbling empire following the multiple sexual assault lawsuits that came after his ex-girlfriend, singer/actor/model Cassie Ventura alleged that 54-year-old raped and beat her for over a decade.
Combs denied any wrongdoing and would eventually settle with Cassie one day later, but that was not the end of his problems.
Cassie Broke The Damn
A week later, the hits kept coming when Joi Dickerson-Neal said that she was “drugged, sexually assaulted and abused” by Diddy and the victim of “revenge porn” that was created and distributed by the rapper.
A third lawsuit from a woman calling herself Jane Doe came alleging that Diddy and R&B singer and former member of Guy Aaron Hall “took turns raping her and her friends” and Hall’s apartment sometime between 1990 and 1991.
In another lawsuit, another Jane Doe said Combs, Bad Boy Entertainment president Harve Pierre, and a third man raped her when she was 17.
Diddy finally decided to break his silence on December 6 with a statement shared on Instagram and it read:
“ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. For the last couple of weeks, I have sat silently and watched people try to assassinate my character, destroy my reputation and my legacy. Sickening allegations have been made against me by individuals looking for a quick payday. Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth.”
Welp.
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Photo: MEGA / Getty
A California appeals court ruled Wednesday (Dec. 13) that Marilyn Manson’s former assistant can sue him for sexual assault, overturning an earlier decision that said she waited too long to bring her case.
In a 24-page opinion, California’s Second Appellate District revived a lawsuit filed by Ashley Walters that claims Manson subjected her to brutal treatment, including sexual harassment and discrimination, during the year that she worked for him from 2010 to 2011.
A lower court had ruled last year that Walters’ lawsuit, filed in 2021, was barred by the statute of limitations, which requires such cases to be filed within two years. But on Wednesday, the appeals court said Walters’ case was fair game under the so-called delayed discovery rule, as she claims the trauma of the incidents caused her to suppress the memories until 2020.
“Until she received diagnosis and treatment, Walters [says she] was unable to remember the repressed events, and once she did recall them, she was unable to immediately identify these events as abuse,” the court wrote. “These allegations of suppressed memories and psychological blocking are sufficient to withstand [dismissal].”
A representative for Manson declined to comment on the ruling. An attorney for Walters did not immediately return a request for comment.
Walters was one of several women who accused Manson of sexual abuse in 2021. His former fiancé Evan Rachel Wood accused him of grooming and sexual abuse on Twitter in February 2021, and then others, including Game of Thrones actress Esmé Bianco and model Ashley Morgan Smithine, filed lawsuits against him.
Manson has denied all of the accusations, and several of the cases have been dismissed or settled. Manson later sued Wood for defamation, claiming she had “secretly recruited, coordinated, and pressured” other women to make such allegations, though that case was largely dismissed earlier this year.
In her lawsuit, Walters claimed that Manson subjected her to “sexual exploitation, manipulation and psychological abuse” while she worked for him as a personal assistant. The alleged abuse included whipping her and throwing her against a wall in a “a drug-induced rage”; forcing her to stay awake for 48 hours by feeding her cocaine; and having “offered” her sexually to friends and associates.
In June 2022, the case was dismissed for being filed past the statute of limitations. Walters argued then that she had suppressed the memories of Manson’s abuse until other women began coming forward, but the judge said during a hearing that he had not seen “sufficient facts” to invoke the delayed-discovery rule.
In Wednesday’s ruling overturning that decision, the appeals court did not say that Walters’ accusations against Manson were true. Instead, it merely said that her allegations were enough for the case to survive being dismissed at the outset. The court recounted various claims that, if proven true, would mean that Walters had truly not discovered the abuse until 2020.
“The complaint described the support group Walters joined in October 2020 and recounted the stories shared by the other abused women that ‘began to unlock new memories [Walters] repressed long ago as a result of her psychological trauma by being manipulated and threatened by Warner during and after her employment,’” the court wrote. “The complaint also described how Walters began therapy in November 2020 and was diagnosed the following month with complex posttraumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder.”
The ruling sends the case back to the trial court, where the parties will engage in more litigation, conduct discovery and move toward an eventual trial.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence and need support and/or resources, reach out to RAINN and the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800-656-HOPE) for free, confidential help 24/7.