The-Dream, born Terius Gesteelde-Diamant, has been accused of rape and sexual battery by Channii Monroe a.k.a Chanaaz Mangroe, an artist who worked under Gesteelde-Diamant. The-Dream has produced sensational hits for artists like Beyoncé and Rihanna.
Mangroe claims that Gesteelde-Diamant promised to promote her work and help her career, but the two eventually entered an abusive relationship. She alleges that he regularly assaulted her.
He promised to make her "the next Beyoncé or Rihanna" after the two met in January 2015. Mangroe was reportedly soon pressured into sex with Gesteelde-Diamant, who told her that this was a "part of the process."
She alleges that he locked her in a dark room while they were working in a home recording studio then proceeded to rape her. She claims that he "would only stop aggressively having sex with her once she said that she loved him."
Gesteelde-Diamant allegedly raped her on several occasions while still promising to help her career, including saying that she could become an opening act for Beyoncé. The suit also states that he forced alcohol and marijuana on her, and kept a gun nearby when having sex with Mangroe. On one occasion, he recorded a sexual encounter with Mangroe and then threatened to release it.
Mangroe says that Gesteelde-Diamant's behavior continued to escalate, leading him to have "security staff monitor her movement and berated her unless she regularly checked in with him." He also forced her to perform oral sex on him at a movie theater in front of other attendees, an encounter that Mangroe described as "physically painful."
Mangroe claims that she reported Gesteelde-Diamant's abuse to an executive at her label, Epic Records, a subsidiary of Sony Music, but was simply told that she would have to "figure out a way to work with Dream again." Epic then dropped her from their label, saying that she and Gesteedle-Diamant failed to fulfill their contracts. The company is a defendant in Mangroe's suit.
Mangroe's legal team, Douglas H. Wigdor and Meredith A. Firetog, represented Cassie Ventura in her highly publicized lawsuit against Sean "Diddy" Combs. The attorneys stated that Gesteelde-Diamant's behavior is a "horrific example of how men in the industry use their power and influence to manipulate and harm others."
Mangroe wrote in a statement that "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 and that her "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," she stated.
Gesteelde-Diamant has denied Mangroe's accusations, saying that they are "untrue and defamatory" and that he opposes "all forms of harassment and have always strived to help people realize their career goals. As someone committed to making a positive impact on my fellow artists and the world at large, I am deeply offended and saddened by these accusations."
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