Irv Gotti, the music producer who cofounded Murder Inc. Records, the famous hip-hop label home to stars Ja Rule and Ashanti, has been accused of rape.
In a lawsuit filed in Miami-Dade on July 11, a woman identified only as Jane Doe accuses 54-year-old Gotti (born Irving Domingo Lorenzo) of sexually assaulting and abusing her on several occasions from 2020 to 2022 in Saint Martin, Miami, and Atlanta. The suit seeks a trial by jury.
"As a result of this sexually abusive relationship, Plaintiff has suffered severe emotional and psychological harm for which she had to be committed to a psychiatric ward," the lawsuit (attached at the bottom of this story) reads. "These injuries continue and affect Plaintiff to this day."
The woman alleges that she and Gotti met through a mutual friend at a poker tournament in the summer of 2020, and Gotti invited her on a vacation to Saint Martin afterward. But upon arriving on the Caribbean island, Gotti allegedly coerced her into having sex with him, threatening to send her home if she didn't.
"Due to his power and influence in the music world, she complied," the suit states.
Following the Saint Martin trip, the woman and Gotti began dating, according to the lawsuit.
The suit claims that during their two-year relationship, she "suffered constant abuse" at the hands of the rap mogul, who demanded that she perform unwanted sexual acts and berated her.
For instance, when Gotti flew the woman to Miami in January 2022, and they stayed at the Four Seasons hotel, he forced her to perform oral sex on him in the elevator, according to the lawsuit. That summer, when he flew her out to Atlanta, he allegedly forced her to perform oral sex on him in an Uber.
"Following this event, the relationship ended," the lawsuit reads.
The lawsuit also alleges that Gotti has slandered the woman to his "vast social network in and around Los Angeles," leaving her fearful to leave home. (He currently boasts one million followers on Instagram.)
As of Monday afternoon, an attorney wasn't listed on behalf of Gotti for the case. New Times was unable to reach the producer for comment.
In 1997, the Queens native cofounded Murder Inc. with his brother based on the short-lived supergroup of Jay-Z, DMX, and Ja Rule. The label was launched under the Def Jam Recordings umbrella and released records by Ashanti, Ja Rule, and Vanessa Carlton.
Its reputation took a hit after Gotti and his brother were accused of using the label to launder drug money. They were both ultimately acquitted of criminal charges.
Gotti appears to have most recently pivoted to television and film. In 2017, he created the BET anthology series Tales, and in 2022, he released a six-part docuseries called The Murder Inc. Story.
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