Charlamagne Tha God may have successfully won a dismissal of Jessica Reid’s sexual assault lawsuit; however, Judge Ona T. Wang is giving her a chance to refile with a focus on defamation. Reid previously accused The Breakfast Club host of sexually assaulting her in 2001 when she was just 15 years old. She first took legal action against him in December 2022.
"For over two decades, Plaintiff Reid has tried to live with the horror of what happened to her at the ripe age of 15. This Court has the power to grant Plaintiff Reid some justice under the current terms of the statutes, leaving any unintended consequences for the legislature to sort out," Reid’s legal team claimed in a court filing caught by AllHipHop.
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The defamation accusation stems from comments Charlamange made during a 2015 episode of the Brilliant Idiots podcast that resurfaced in a video on YouTube from the channel, "SELFTALK." It's titled: “Funk Flex Calls Out Charlamagne Tha God After Tasha K & Jessica Reid Interview." Charlamagne's lawyers are arguing that he had no involvement in the publishing of that YouTube video and thus can't be blamed. “Plaintiff did not and cannot allege that Charlamagne had any involvement in the SELFTALK video,” they said. “Charlamagne did not identify, mention, or reference the Plaintiff during the audio recording.” They also cited the statute of limitations for defamation in New York having already passed when Charlamagne made the comments that were included in the video.
Charlamagne previously addressed the allegations during an episode of The Breakfast Club in July 2018. “The documents showed I did everything in my power to fully cooperate with authorities before this case was ultimately dismissed. But I cannot take responsibility for a crime that I did not commit. I am praying for healing for the victim, and I am committed to using my platform that God has blessed me with to do as much good as I possibly can for the rest of my life,” he said at the time. Be on the lookout for further updates on Charlamagne Tha God on HotNewHipHop.
[Via]
