Metro Boomin To Testify In Sexual Assault Trial

Key Takeaways:

• The civil trial centers on a 2016 sexual assault allegation against Metro Boomin in Los Angeles.
• Vanessa LeMaistre claims she was drugged and assaulted after taking Xanax and drinking alcohol at Metro’s studio.
• The case includes Ayahuasca-related testimony, references to 21 Savage lyrics and a $3.7 million damages claim.

The sexual assault trial involving Metro Boomin is now underway. On Tuesday (Sept. 23), the producer appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom over allegations brought by Vanessa LeMaistre, who claims she awoke to the “Trance” producer raping her.

According to LeMaistre, she met Metro (whose real name is Leland Wayne) in Las Vegas in 2016 and later visited him at his studio in Los Angeles on several occasions. Around that time, she said that she had confided in him about losing her 9-month-old son, Complex noted.

On the night in question, LeMaistre recalled taking half a Xanax and “a few sips” of alcohol at the studio before falling asleep. She then claimed she later woke up in a different location, on a bed, with the beatmaker on top of her.

After the alleged incident, LeMaistre said that one of Metro’s employees drove her back to the studio, where her car was parked. “I truly thought that rape was what you see on TV, stranger danger, somebody comes up and abducts you,” she said.

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Metro Boomin at Forbes 30 Under 30 Summit

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Metro’s defense team has denied the allegations. His lawyer, Lawrence Hinkle, said LeMaistre pursued the case out of greed and because his client “stopped giving her attention after the last time they had sex.”

“We are here because she thought my client could solve her financial problems,” Hinkle told the court. “So, she made a claim that he sexually assaulted her, expecting that he would just write a check to make it all go away quickly and quietly.” Metro, who is standing trial “to publicly clear his name,” is expected to testify in his own defense, alongside two expert witnesses.

LeMaistre is suing for damages between $3.4 million and $3.7 million. Legal journalist Meghann Cuniff reported that LeMaistre also wants the lawsuit to “go viral” by having people tag both Metro and 21 Savage’s social media accounts. For context, her filing cited the London-born rapper’s verse on “Rap Saved Me” from 2017’s Without Warning.

“She took a Xanny, then she fainted / I’m from the gutter, ain’t no changing / From the gutter, rap saved me / She drive me crazy, have my baby,” 21 Savage’s lyrics included in the complaint read. The trial is expected to come to verdict by Friday (Sept. 26).