Terius “The-Dream” Gesteelde-Diamant, a producer and songwriter for Beyoncé and Rihanna seen right here on the sixty fifth Grammy Awards, was sued in federal court docket Tuesday by a former protégée.
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Songwriter and producer Terius “The-Dream” Gesteelde-Diamant – a longtime hitmaker and collaborator of artists together with Beyoncé and Rihanna – was accused Tuesday of rape, bodily assault, and psychological manipulation by a former protégée.
The lady, Chanaaz Mangroe, filed the go well with in a Los Angeles district court docket towards Gesteelde-Diamant, in addition to the file label Epic Data and an organization co-owned by Gesteelde-Diamant referred to as Contra Paris, LLC.
Within the go well with, Mangroe alleges that Gesteelde-Diamant made extravagant guarantees to assist jumpstart her music profession, telling her “he would make her the subsequent Beyoncé and Rihanna.” As an alternative, she alleges, he raped her, strangled her and psychologically manipulated her, together with allegedly making a video of a sexual encounter and threatening to indicate it to different folks.
Representatives of Gesteelde-Diamant and Epic Data didn’t instantly return NPR’s requests for remark, however a press release was supplied to the New York Occasions denying the allegations.
Mangroe, who was born and started her profession in The Netherlands and has used the skilled identify Channii Monroe, alleges that an affiliate of Gesteelde-Diamant first reached out to her in late 2014 after studying of her on Instagram, and made preparations for her to fulfill Gesteelde-Diamant in Atlanta in January 2015. On the time, Gesteelde-Diamant and his inventive companion, Christopher “Tough” Stewart, had already change into well-known producers and songwriters whose collaborators included Beyoncé, Rihanna, Britney Spears, Mariah Carey and Justin Bieber. (In all, Gesteelde-Diamant has received eight Grammy Awards and earned 21 nominations.)
Mangroe alleges that Gesteelde-Diamant virtually instantly started pressuring her for intercourse after assembly her, saying that intercourse with him was “a part of the method.” Inside days of their first assembly, she alleges within the go well with, he locked her in a darkish room at a home with a recording studio the place he “would solely cease aggressively having intercourse together with her as soon as she stated that she cherished him.”
Over the course of a number of following months, the go well with alleges, Gesteelde-Diamant led her into an “abusive, violent, and manipulative relationship stuffed with bodily assaults, violent sexual encounters, and horrific psychological manipulation.” Based on Mangroe, Gesteelde-Diamant incessantly pressured her into violent intercourse, refused to put on a condom, demanded that she interact in sexual acts in public towards her will, pressured her to drink alcohol excessively by “roughly pulling her head again by her hair and pouring alcohol down her throat,” and on a number of events strangled her throughout intimate encounters “so intensely that she virtually misplaced consciousness.” She additionally alleges that on one event, he raped her behind a van.
Mangroe’s go well with cites California’s Sexual Abuse and Cowl-Up Accountability Act, which permits folks to file fits on sexual assault accusations even when the statute of limitations has expired on the alleged incidents.
In a written assertion despatched to NPR on Tuesday by certainly one of her attorneys, Douglas Wigdor, Mangroe stated: “Selecting to talk out concerning the trauma I survived has been one of the crucial tough selections of my life, however finally, what Dream did to me made it inconceivable to stay the life I envisioned for myself and pursue my objectives as a singer and songwriter. In the end, my silence has change into too painful, and I spotted that I would like to inform my story to heal. I hope that doing so will even assist others and stop future horrific abuse.”
