Rapper Soulja Boy ordered to pay woman $235,900 in punitive damages
The jury directed him to pay $235,900 in compensatory damages, all but $1,800 of which is to pay her for her pain and suffering.
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (CNS) -- A jury has ordered Soulja Boy to pay $235,900 in punitive damages to a woman who alleged the rapper yelled profanities, kicked her, stomped on her stomach and bashed her head with a large gun during a party she attended at his Malibu home in 2019, the same amount the panel gave the woman last week in compensatory damages.
The Santa Monica Superior Court panel reached its verdict in the punitive damages phase of plaintiff Kayla Christine Myers' lawsuit on Monday.
On Friday, the jury directed the 32-year-old performer to pay $235,900 in compensatory damages to Myers, all but $1,800 of which is to pay her for her pain and suffering. The jury also found that the singer acted with malice, oppression or fraud, triggering a second phase of trial to determine whether Myers should be awarded punitive damages.
Myers alleged Soulja Boy, whose real name is DeAndre Cortez Way, held the gun to her head and told her she was going to die the night of Feb. 1, 2019. Myers further maintained the rapper then instructed an assistant to take the plaintiff inside the garage and tie her up with duct tape, and that she was later dragged by her hair inside the house and forced to take two showers.
Myers was led to the home's garage and left there for four hours while the female assistant and another man watched over her, according to the suit brought in January 2020.
According to Myers, she was eventually allowed to leave and was hospitalized with three fractured ribs and a facial contusion. Soulja Boy denied assaulting Myers or any other wrongdoing and alleged she was the aggressor in the confrontation with the singer's assistant.
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