Snoop Dogg is seeking dismissal of most of the claims in a revived lawsuit in which a woman accuses him of sexual assault in 2013 and maligning her reputation on the social media in 2022.
Attorneys for the rapper filed an anti-SLAPP motion on Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court 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.
The woman alleges the 51-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.
"Doe 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 singer's attorneys' court papers state.
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 motion is scheduled May 21, 2024, before Judge Thomas D. Long.
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