Snoop Dogg’s team calls sex-assault lawsuit a ‘shakedown scheme’ before Super Bowl
Snoop Dogg’s team is fighting back hard against a lawsuit filed Wednesday by a woman claiming to be a former employee of the rapper and alleging sexual assault and more by him and one of his associates.
Snoop’s team says the lawsuit is an attempt to “extort” the rapper, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, ahead of his high-profile performance during Sunday’s Super Bowl LVI. Calling the lawsuit “disgraceful,” they denied that any sexual encounter ever occurred.
“The allegations ... of sexual assault by Calvin Broadus (known as Snoop Dogg), are simply meritless. They appear to be part of a self-enrichment shakedown scheme ... to extort Snoop Dogg right before he performs during this Sunday’s Super Bowl half-time show,” a spokesperson for the rapper told The Times in a statement Friday.
The Times reached out Friday to the accuser’s attorney, Matt Finkelberg, for further comment but didn’t hear back before publication.
The federal case was filed against Snoop Dogg and an associate after private negotiations failed. ‘Gold digger season is here,’ the rapper posted.
On Thursday, Finkelberg told The Times via email, “We believe, trust, and stand with our client and we are confident a jury will too. We take great pride in representing our courageous and brave client who refuses to be silenced and intimidated any longer.”
The lawsuit, which identifies the woman as Jane Doe, was filed Wednesday afternoon in federal court after private negotiations between the parties on Tuesday and Wednesday morning broke down.
Doe said in the lawsuit that she had worked for and performed with Broadus and other rappers. Broadus, Bishop Don “Magic” Juan (born Donald Campbell) and several of Snoop’s companies are named as defendants.
Both men are accused of forcing Doe to give them oral sex. She said in the lawsuit that she “feared for her life and job security” if she did not comply.
‘It feels good to have ownership of the label I was part of at the beginning of my career,’ Snoop Dogg said in a statement.
Broadus’ team called those allegations into question Friday, saying the woman “[manufactured] an occurrence of more than 8 years ago, in 2013, for her false allegations. They are similar to what she filed using her own name as the plaintiff in December 2021 with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing.”
Using her real name, Doe filed a claim for sexual harassment and discrimination using almost the same set of facts put forth in the lawsuit. In it she said she submitted to pressure to engage in oral sex because she was intimidated by Broadus’ “ability to hire and fire her and ensure that she would never be hired in this industry again.”
“To be clear, Mr. Broadus has never has had any sexual encounter whatsoever with [Jane Doe],” Broadus’ team said.
In three years, Roc Nation diversified and modernized the Super Bowl halftime show. But as the recent Brian Flores lawsuit shows, changing the NFL isn’t easy.
In the employment claim, in addition to accusing the rapper and Campbell of sex discrimination, she also accused Broadus’ son Cordell of failing to hire her after she rebuffed his sexual advances in 2015, but those allegations are not included in the lawsuit.
Doe’s history of performing with Broadus appears to include being called up on stage with him and dancing nearby, as she has done with other rappers. Her December employment claim states, “While working for the Muse Ink Festival and Comedy Central, Claimant worked with Respondent SNOOP DOGG.”
A source close to Broadus said she has never had an employment contract with him.
The biggest entertainment stories
Get our big stories about Hollywood, film, television, music, arts, culture and more right in your inbox as soon as they publish.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
