In new court papers responding to Snoop Dogg's bid to have dismissed most claims in a woman's revived lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault in 2013 and defaming her on the social media in 2022, the plaintiff's attorneys state in new court papers that the rapper is trying intimidate their client with "veiled threats of violence."
In her Los Angeles Superior Court suit, the woman alleges the 52-year- old, Long Beach-born performer, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, forced her into a sex act in a recording studio bathroom in 2013.
Last August, attorneys for the performer filed an anti-SLAPP motion seeking dismissal of seven of plaintiff Jane Doe's causes of action, including defamation, emotional distress, civil rights violations, retaliation and harassment. The motion does not target her sexual assault and sexual battery claims.
The state's anti-SLAPP -- Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation -- law is intended to prevent people from using courts, and potential threats of a lawsuit, to intimidate those who are exercising their First Amendment rights.
But in court papers filed Thursday with Judge Thomas D. Long in response to the anti-SLAPP motion, Doe's lawyers maintain she was "subjected to the most appalling sexual harassment and assault and that this was part of a common plan and practice to prey on and then intimidate and silence" women like her who want a career in show business.
"True to form, Snoop Dogg and his minions then named and shamed plaintiff on social media and the press in a transparent attempt to intimidate her into submission with veiled threats of violence," Doe's lawyers further argue in their court papers.
The rapper and those associated with him "are now desperate to dodge plaintiff's claims against them and this motion to strike is one of several motions filed in tandem, none of which has merit," Doe's attorneys' state in their pleadings that in reference to a separate motion the singer's lawyers have filed to try and pare the claims in the case.
Want to get caught up on what's happening in SoCal every weekday afternoon? Click to follow The L.A. Local wherever you get podcasts.
But according to the rapper's attorneys' court papers, the plaintiff "seeks to put Mr. Broadus on trial in violation of his free speech and petition rights, an Instagram post hallmarked by loose interpretations of a judge and police emoji, an unnamed spokesperson's verbal statement to media denying the allegations of a now-dismissed federal action and an attorney correspondence ... occurring in the adversarial grounds of litigation."
The performer's attorneys acknowledge in their court papers that in February 2022 their client posted on Instagram, "Gold digger season is here be careful Nefews."
The two speech-related communications "were made in a public forum and directly relate to the public interest and are unquestionably protected speech," the singer's attorneys argue in their court papers, adding that the attorney letter "arises from litigation and is squarely protected as a petitioning act."
The rapper's attorneys state that Doe's current case, filed in June 2022, is the fifth version of her litigation after the most recent previous version was dismissed in federal court.
A hearing on the singer's motions is scheduled Feb. 22.
Follow KNX News 97.1 FM
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok