The-Dream, R&B star and Beyoncé songwriter, accused of rape
Songwriter and producer Terius “The-Dream” Gesteelde-Diamant – a longtime hitmaker and collaborator of artists including Beyoncé and Rihanna – was accused Tuesday of rape, physical assault, and psychological manipulation by a former protégée.
The woman, Chanaaz Mangroe, filed the suit in a Los Angeles district court against Gesteelde-Diamant, as well as the record label Epic Records and a company co-owned by Gesteelde-Diamant called Contra Paris, LLC.
In the suit, Mangroe alleges that Gesteelde-Diamant made extravagant promises to help jumpstart her music career, telling her “he would make her the next Beyoncé and Rihanna.” Instead, she alleges, he raped her, strangled her and psychologically manipulated her, including allegedly making a video of a sexual encounter and threatening to show it to other people.
Representatives of Gesteelde-Diamant and Epic Records did not immediately return NPR’s requests for comment, but a statement was provided to the New York Times denying the allegations.
Mangroe, who was born and began her career in The Netherlands and has used the professional name Channii Monroe, alleges that an associate of Gesteelde-Diamant first reached out to her in late 2014 after learning of her on Instagram, and made arrangements for her to meet Gesteelde-Diamant in Atlanta in January 2015. At the time, Gesteelde-Diamant and his creative partner, Christopher “Tricky” Stewart, had already become well-known producers and songwriters whose collaborators included Beyoncé, Rihanna, Britney Spears, Mariah Carey and Justin Bieber. (In all, Gesteelde-Diamant has won eight Grammy Awards and earned 21 nominations.)
Mangroe alleges that Gesteelde-Diamant almost immediately began pressuring her for sex after meeting her, saying that sex with him was “part of the process.” Within days of their first meeting, she alleges in the suit, he locked her in a dark room at a house with a recording studio where he “would only stop aggressively having sex with her once she said that she loved him.”
Over the course of several following months, the suit alleges, Gesteelde-Diamant led her into an “abusive, violent, and manipulative relationship filled with physical assaults, violent sexual encounters, and horrific psychological manipulation.” According to Mangroe, Gesteelde-Diamant frequently forced her into violent sex, refused to wear a condom, demanded that she engage in sexual acts in public against her will, forced her to drink alcohol excessively by “roughly pulling her head back by her hair and pouring alcohol down her throat,” and on multiple occasions strangled her during intimate encounters “so intensely that she almost lost consciousness.” She also alleges that on one occasion, he raped her in the back of a van.
Mangroe’s suit cites California’s Sexual Abuse and Cover-Up Accountability Act, which allows people to file suits on sexual assault accusations even if the statute of limitations has expired on the alleged incidents.
In a written statement sent to NPR on Tuesday by one of her attorneys, Douglas Wigdor, Mangroe said: “Choosing to speak out about the trauma I survived has been one of the most difficult decisions of my life, but ultimately, what Dream did to me made it impossible to live the life I envisioned for myself and pursue my goals as a singer and songwriter. Ultimately, my silence has become too painful, and I realized that I need to tell my story to heal. I hope that doing so will also help others and prevent future horrific abuse.”
Transcript
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
The songwriter and producer known as The-Dream is behind some of the biggest chart-toppers of our time. He frequently collaborates with artists like Beyonce, Rihanna and Mariah Carey. Well, today, one of his former protegees filed a lawsuit accusing him of violent abuse while he promised to make her a star. We'll note that this report from NPR culture correspondent Anastasia Tsioulcas includes descriptions of physical and sexual assault over the next few minutes. Hi, Anastasia.
ANASTASIA TSIOULCAS, BYLINE: Hi there, Ari.
SHAPIRO: The-Dream is really well known in R&B music, less so in the public eye. For folks who are not familiar with him, why is he so important?
TSIOULCAS: Well, he's a singer-songwriter and producer. But more than anything, The- Dream's a major hitmaker. Beyonce, for example, has collaborated with him on every one of her albums since 2008. He's a songwriter and producer on some of her big hits, including "Single Ladies" and "Break My Soul." And he's won eight Grammy awards.
In this lawsuit, though, the woman, Chanaaz Mangroe, alleges The-Dream promised to make her just as big as Beyonce and another of his collaborators, Rihanna. And I'll note, he's being sued under his legal name, which he recently changed from Terius Nash to Terius Gesteelde-Diamant.
SHAPIRO: Can you tell us more about the lawsuit, the woman who filed it and what's alleged?
TSIOULCAS: Sure. She is a singer and songwriter from the Netherlands. She filed this suit in California, in a U.S. district court in Los Angeles. And she alleges, while The-Dream was making extravagant promises about stardom, he pressured her for sex almost immediately. And in the suit, she says, he told her sex with him was, quote, "part of the process."
And so she's accusing him of raping her, violently assaulting her on multiple occasions, including strangling her, forcing her to drink alcohol and psychologically manipulating her. She alleges he had forced her to tell him where she was at all times and that he allegedly made a video of one of their sexual encounters and then threatened to show it to other people. And she says he told her all the while that this was the path to a huge career.
SHAPIRO: When does she say this happened?
TSIOULCAS: So she says one of his associates reached out to her in very late 2014 and that she met him in person in January 2015. And she alleges the abuse began almost immediately and continued for months. So this is, like, a decade ago - right? - but her lawsuit cites California's Sexual Abuse and Cover Up Accountability Act, which specifically allows people to file suits on sexual assault accusations even if the statute of limitations has expired on the alleged incidents.
SHAPIRO: Has there been any response from The-Dream or his lawyers?
TSIOULCAS: Not to NPR, no - though, of course, we've asked for comment. But a spokesperson of his told the New York Times in a statement, quote, "these claims are untrue and defamatory" and that, quote, "I am deeply offended and saddened by these accusations."
And I should point out that Mangroe's suit is also against the record label Epic Records, which is part of Sony Music Entertainment. Mangroe says they knew about but ignored the abuse. And she's also suing a company co-owned by The-Dream. We haven't heard back from either Epic Records or The-Dream's representative, so I think it's going to take a while to see how this all plays out.
SHAPIRO: All right. That is NPR's Anastasia Tsioulcas. Thank you for your reporting.
TSIOULCAS: Thank you for having me, Ari.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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