Jury finds no claims proven in Metro Boomin's civil sexual assault trial
The verdict followed a two-day trial with three witnesses, including Metro and a woman who claims to speak with the dead and accused him of sexually assaulting her.
A federal jury in Los Angeles on Thursday rejected a lawsuit that accused music producer Metro Boomin of sexually assaulting a woman in 2016.
The jury of eight deliberated about an hour before concluding none of the claims — common law battery, sexual battery and two violations of California anti-gender violence law — had been proven.
Metro, legal name Leland Tyler Wayne, told reporters outside the courtroom, “I’m blessed and glad the truth prevailed.”
“It’s a burden lifted,” 32-year-old Metro said.
He said he “was never in fear, but you never know.”
“It’s just a shame that they waste my time, everybody else’s time, the jury’s time,” Metro said.
A juror told reporters outside the courthouse that the case “wasn’t there.”
“A lot of it was just testimony or just talking about it, but there was no substantial, ‘This is what happened,’” the man said.
Plaintiff’s lawyer Michael Willemin of Wigdor LLP in New York City declined to comment beyond saying he’s seeking a new trial based on errors he alleges occurred. The Wigdor firm represented Cassie Ventura in her lawsuit against Sean “Diddy” Combs and has sued dozens of other celebrities for sexual assault in the last few years.
Metro said his only previous experience with court was watching his friend Jeffery “Young Thug” Williams’ trial in Atlanta last year. Young Thug, who’s in Los Angeles amid the release of his new album, watched some of Metro’s trial on Wednesday from the gallery of U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner’s courtroom. Metro said Thursday his support meant “a lot.”
“That’s my brother. I was there for his trial,” Metro said. He said he plans to go home to his family.
Metro said he doesn’t know how many tracks he has on Young Thug’s new album UY Scuti because “I’ve been so focused on this.”
Jurors heard testimony from three witnesses during the two-day trial.
Plaintiff Vanessa LeMaistre was her only witness. She testified Metro sexually assaulted her in a Beverly Hills hotel room in 2016, and she realized she should sue him when she was high on the psychedelic plant Ayahuasca during a therapy session in 2024.
Metro’s defense witnesses were himself and April Thames, a professor and UCLA’s psychology chief who met with LeMaistre and diagnosed her with borderline personality disorder with psychotic features, major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Metro testified he and LeMaistre had consensual sex on two occasions, and he didn’t know she was upset until he read her lawsuit eight years later. He also said LeMaistre never told him she was pregnant. Metro’s lawyers argued in trial that LeMaistre tried to doctor evidence by contacting the Planned Parenthood clinic she visited in 2016 to change the records to say she was sexually assaulted after she’d told clinic workers she wasn’t.
She also asked about the date of her pregnancy, which Metro’s lawyers argued she did because she was trying to bolster her false claim that Metro was the father. LeMaistre said she wasn’t trying to doctor evidence and simply wanted the records to reflect the truth.
“It is absolutely preposterous to suggest that our client thought that she was going to trick everyone here and fabricate a claim of sexual assault by changing the Planned Parenthood now,” Willemin told jurors in his 25-minute closing argument
LeMaistre’s writings about her litigation plan from her Ayahuasca therapy session mention damages of $3.4 million to $3.7 million, but Willemin never mentioned a dollar amount in trial. He told jurors in his closing that they should award punitive and compensatory damages, and “the award of compensatory damages must be significant in order to even begin to compensate Ms. LeMaistre for what she has undergone the last nine years.”
Metro’s lawyer Justin H. Sanders mentioned LeMaistre’s reference in the Ayahuasca writings to being a “spirit medium” who can speak to the dead and had channeled Metro’s mother, Leslie Joanne Wayne, who was murdered by her husband in 2022. LeMaistre wrote that Metro’s other was disappointed in him.
LeMaistre testified on Wednesday that she “took a class” and works “professionally as a medium.”
“I’ve seen thousands of clients for mediumship to help them talk to their loved ones on the other side,” she testified.
After the verdict on Thursday, Metro posted a photo of himself with his mother to Instagram and wrote, “God and My Angel forever behind me. 💜”
Willemin addressed LeMaistre’s use of Ayahuasca and her writings in his closing argument by telling jurors that she “has beliefs that I don’t have, that maybe members the jury, people in the court don’t have.”
“But that does not mean that she was sexually assaulted — that she wasn’t sexually assaulted,” Willemin said, correcting himself.
He continued, “Some of those beliefs are less than traditional. Some of those beliefs are hard to understand. But the question is, when she took the stand, did you believe her when she said she was sexually assaulted?”
“Because if you did, the rest of this case, all of the defendant’s arguments, all of the beliefs that our client may have, are all just noise,” Willemin said.
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Willemin said jurors should contrast LeMaistre’s courtroom demeanor — “somber but under control” — with Metro’s — “making faces, laughing, catching her eyes.”
“You saw two different personalities from the defendant on the stand,” Willemin said. He reminded jurors that Metro was “quite upset when I made a hearsay objection” — Metro snapped, “What’s hearsay?” and no one answered — and was “repeatedly calling me ‘bro’ in the courtroom and getting upset.”
Willemin also pointed to the lack of contact between Metro and LeMaistre as evidence Metro assaulted her. Metro testified he tried to maintain contact with LeMaistre, and Sanders said in closing argument that LeMaistre was upset she couldn’t get Metro’s attention fast enough.
“She’s messaging him in the wee hours of the morning, trying to get with him, and he’s not responding fast enough, and it’s not because he’s disrespectful,” Sanders said. “He’s just got a lot going on. He’s a busy person. He’s moving around the country and around the world at all times, and he has a tremendous amount of responsibility.”
Sanders reminded jurors that Metro “adopted his two youngest siblings after his mother’s death.”
“That’s who my client is. He’s not a rapist or sexual assault-type person, and you saw a little flash of anger from him yesterday, and he’s righteous in that,” Sanders said.
Sanders disputed LeMaistre’s testimony that the song “Rap Saved Me,” which Metro produced in 2017 for rappers 21 Savage and Offset, references sexual assault with the lines,“ Metro testified he didn’t write the lyrics.
“The lyrics of the song say nothing about sex, but most importantly, he didn’t write it,” Sanders wrote.
Sanders also reminded jurors that LeMaistre said she believes rap icon Lil Wayne’s smash song “How To Love” is about her.
“That is classic mental disorder,” Sanders said.
She also testified she dated Lil Wayne for 10 months. Sanders pointed out that no photos exist of them together, and she has no copies of correspondence between them.
“Where’s Lil Wayne? Why not bring him in here?” Sanders asked.
Lil Wayne’s presence in the case appears to be new.
Last Friday, Willemin said in a filing that LeMaistre “would agree to the introduction of her own testimony confirming that she had a relationship with a celebrity artist and the effect that it had or did not have on her emotional well-being.” The filing responded to a sealed motion from Metro’s lawyers to admit new evidence. Wayne is mentioned in Thanes’ report filed on Sept. 3.
“During this time, she reported that she dated the rapper known as ‘Lil Wayne’ but had lost contact with him over time,” according to the report. Thanes wrote that LeMaistre “described that her therapist was not supportive when she disclosed her belief that Lil Wayne was sending her subliminal messages on Twitter.”
Metro’s lawyers at Sanders Roberts LLP called the claims against him “frivolous and unequivocally false” in a press release issued after the verdict.
“Mr. Wayne has endured serious and damaging accusations, and today’s verdict confirms what he has always said – the plaintiff’s claims against him are completely fabricated,” Lawrence C. Hinkle II, Sanders Roberts’ managing partner, said in the release.
Metro said he’s “disappointed in not only the plaintiff but the janky lawyers who made the conscious decision to take on this suit, even though it was evident long ago that these claims had no legs or merit and would not end up going anywhere.”
“Today I took a victory in court but in reality there is a long list of losses I stacked up in this year long process of clearing my name and reputation. The very large amount of money and time wasted based off of someone else’s greed, coupled with the incalculable amount of money and opportunities that did not make it to me or my team during this time,” Metro said. “‘Metro Boomin’ is more than a stage name or family friendly brand but a superhero in the eyes of many children and adults around the world.”
Willemin still is seeking a mistrial over Judge Klausner’s allowance of evidence about LeMaistre’s sexual history, which he argues violates Federal Rules of Evidence 412. Klausner gave him until Tuesday to finalize his motion. Metro’s lawyers have until Thursday to file their opposition, then Willemin has until Monday to reply.
I’ve got video and photos of Metro and Young Thug available for licensing on Backgrid, including this video of Young Thug and a woman waiting to go through courthouse security.
Previous articles:
In trial testimony, Metro Boomin calls sexual assault allegation 'beyond insulting'
Music producer Metro Boomin testified Wednesday that he “no way in the world” sexually assaulted the woman suing him and didn’t know she was upset until she filed her lawsuit eight years after they had sex.
Hip-hop producer Metro Boomin begins trial in federal sexual assault lawsuit
A woman suing hip-hop music producer Metro Boomin testified Tuesday in Los Angeles that he raped her in a hotel room in 2016, and she realized she should sue him eight years later when she was high on the psychedelic plant Ayahuasca during a therapy session in Peru.
Court documents from Vanessa LeMaistre v. Leland T. Wayne p/k/a Metro Boomin, 2:24-cv-10378, are available below for paid subscribers. A transcript of Tuesday’s proceedings also is available. Your paid subscriptions make my work possible.