A woman filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against rapper Young Lo, singer Chris Brown and dozens of others, alleging that Young Lo raped her multiple times while he and other defendants held her against her will at Brown’s home last February.
Prominent women’s rights attorney Gloria Allred is representing the woman, identified only as “Jane Doe” in the lawsuit, and is seeking damages for sexual battery, gender violence, battery, assault and negligence, among other charges, according to a copy of the suit that HuffPost obtained.
Anthony Willoughby, an attorney for Young Lo, whose real name is Lowell Grissom Jr., said in a statement that his client denies the accusations, noting they “originated last year ending with no arrests, no proof, an inconclusive rape kit and after a police investigation- no charges filed.”
“This civil lawsuit is a blatant attempt at a money grab and to harm the reputation of my client while encouraging PR noise for Gloria Allred while she exploits this young women [sic] for her own financial gains and public persona,” Willoughby continued.
The lawsuit alleges that Doe was at Los Angeles nightclub One Oak on Feb. 23, 2017, when Grissom invited her and her then-roommate to meet Brown. The roommates went to join him and Brown for an “afterparty” at a recording studio where people were using drugs and alcohol, which made Doe uncomfortable.
Grissom allegedly took Doe’s cellphone from her at the studio and refused to give it back until she and her roommate went with him to Brown’s house. Brown’s home was surrounded by a fence and gate that required a code, the suit alleges, and both men refused to give her phone back or a code so she could leave.
The woman says that during her time at the house, guests continued to consume alcohol and illicit drugs, which may have included marijuana, cocaine, and the MDMA-based drug molly.
“Brown handed each female guest, including Plaintiff, a clear pill filled with white
powder and instructed them to take it to have a “good time,‘” the lawsuit states. “Plaintiff reasonably interpreted Brown’s instruction to have a ‘good time’ at his house to mean that he expected his female guests to later perform sexual acts with him and others while under the influence of these substances.”
“Plaintiff, who wanted to remain alert and who did not want to perform sexual acts with anyone, did not follow these instructions and declined to consume the pill(s),” the suit added.
During the party, Doe claims she isolated herself from the others and became scared as she noticed the men were in “possession of multiple guns in the house.” Grissom allegedly lured the woman’s roommate upstairs under the pretense of returning her cellphone to her, and then told Doe that her roommate was upstairs waiting for her.
Doe says she told her roommate that she did not want to engage in sex with Grissom and Brown.
“Before Plaintiff could leave the bedroom, Grissom and Brown entered and closed the door behind them,” the lawsuit states. “They sat across from Plaintiff. Plaintiff spoke to Brown and Grissom, both of whom appeared to be under the influence of drugs. Plaintiff feared that they were out of control and that they would force themselves upon her in some manner against her will.”
The lawsuit also claims that a woman, identified as “Doe X,” entered the room with several other women, and Grissom then blocked the door with a couch at Brown’s request. While some of the women began to undress, Doe tried to distance herself from the group.
According to the lawsuit, Doe X pursued and violently grabbed Doe, forcing her to engage in oral sex with Grissom. (The lawsuit’s graphic description of the allegations follows.)
The lawsuit claims that Doe X pushed Doe down onto one of the beds in the room and sat on top of her face, using her legs to pin the woman down while forcing her to perform oral sex on her, the lawsuit claims.
“To compound Plaintiffs horror, Doe X was menstruating at the time,” the suit states. “While Doe X was forcing Plaintiff to perform oral sex on her, Grissom molested the lower half of Plaintiffs body using his mouth and hands.”
Doe X moved Doe to another room, where Doe decided to take a shower to clean the other woman’s bodily fluids off of her, the suit alleges. It was there that Grissom allegedly snuck into the shower and continued his molestation. When Doe tried to flee, Grissom allegedly pushed her onto a bed in the connected bedroom and raped her.
After that, Grissom allegedly took Doe to a laundry room and finally returned her phone to her. While she called a rideshare to leave, the lawsuit claims, Grissom raped her again.
The woman immediately sought treatment for rape and reported the alleged event to the police, the suit says.
At some point during the night, the lawsuit claims Doe’s mother grew worried because she couldn’t reach her daughter. The mother used tracking software to find her daughter’s cellphone location and asked police to perform a wellness check. Brown allegedly refused to allow police through the gate to his property.
A representative for Brown did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
Brown pleaded guilty in 2009 to assaulting his then-girlfriend Rihanna. He was also arrested in 2016 on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon after an hourslong standoff with police.
A judge granted Brown’s ex-girlfriend Karrueche Tran a five-year restraining order against him in June of last year.
This article has been updated with a statement from Grissom’s attorney.
Need help? Visit RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s website.