Grammy Award-winning producer wants to dismiss rape case

Grammy Award-winning producer and songwriter The-Dream is seeking to have large parts of a sexual assault lawsuit against him thrown out.

The 47-year-old suspect, Terius Gesteelde-Diamant, is accused of rape and sexual assault in June by former actress Chanaaz Mangroe, who played Channii Monroe.

Responding to Mr Gesteelde-Diamant who has written songs for Beyoncé, Rihanna, Justin Bieber and Mariah Carey, he dismissed the allegations.

On Friday, his legal representatives filed a motion to have the case dismissed, calling the allegations “a textbook example of a ‘gun admission’.”

The term ‘pleading’ is used to describe a complaint that makes multiple allegations without giving the other party proper notice of the allegations.

In court documents seen by BBC News, lawyers have asked for a number of amendments to Ms Mangroe’s complaint, insisting that certain sections are “empty” and “disgraceful”.

They seek to dismiss the rape claim, arguing that rape is not a separate cause of action under California law.

They also say that a sex trafficking claim fails to allege the necessary elements such as a “commercial sexual act”.

His attorneys also asked that his label Contra Paris, LLC be dismissed from the suit, as it is based in Delaware and therefore has no personal jurisdiction in California.

“The complaint is a textbook example of a ‘gun admission’ and should be dismissed in its entirety for failing to identify each defendant with factual allegations,” said Desirée F. Moore, the attorney representing Mr. Gesteelde-Diamant.

He added that Mangroe’s complaint “contains a number of allegations that are inconsistent with his sex battery and sex trafficking claims, and, instead, are designed to defame Diamant’s name and reputation.”

According to the lawsuit filed in JuneMs Mangroe says Mr Gesteelde-Diamant repeatedly forced her to have sex, choked her and on one occasion filmed the intimate encounter and threatened to show it to other people.

According to the 60-page lawsuit, Ms Mangroe is seeking compensation for “lost wages” and “mental pain and suffering and severe emotional distress”.

Ms. Mangroe, who is originally from the Netherlands and was working in the US hoping to break through as a singer and songwriter, said in this case that she first met Mr. Gesteelde-Diamant in January 2015.

The 33-year-old girl says that he “violently injected” her, which left her injured, and forced her to drink “excessive alcohol”; he choked it until he “almost fainted”; he forced her into sexual acts in a theater and raped her in a modified sports van.

He says he also “told her he was going to make her the next Beyoncé and Rihanna”.

Within days of that first meeting, Ms Mangroe says Mr Gesteelde-Diamant had begun pressuring her sexually, telling her it was “part of the process”, the lawsuit said.

The 33-year-old woman says he locked her in a dark room and “he would stop being aggressive with her once he said he loved her”.

Ms Mangroe says in this case the unwanted sex is still going on, while Mr Gesteelde-Diamant makes promises such as that he can arrange to be the one to open Beyoncé’s next tour, as well as the Grammys.

Mr Gesteelde-Diamant has won eight Grammy Awards and was nominated in the newly created category of Songwriter of the Year at the 65th Grammy Awards in February 2023.

In a statement given by Mr Gesteelde-Diamant’s representative to the New York Times in June, he said the allegations were “untrue and defamatory”.

“I am against all forms of harassment and have always strived to help people achieve their career goals,” the statement said.

“As someone who is committed to doing good to my fellow artists and the world at large, I am deeply offended and saddened by these allegations.”

BBC News contacted Ms Mangroe for a response.