Defense

The trial has just begun in a rape lawsuit against Metro Boomin – but attorneys for the superstar producer’s alleged victim are asking for a mistrial, saying a defense lawyer made improper claims about her sexual history during opening arguments.

A jury in Los Angeles federal court heard opening arguments on Tuesday (Sept. 23) for the civil case brought by Vanessa LeMaistre, who alleges she blacked out after ingesting Xanax and alcohol in Metro Boomin’s studio during a 2016 recording session and later woke up to the producer (Leland Wayne) raping her.

Metro denies the claims, saying the case is a “classic celebrity shakedown” that LeMaistre concocted while hallucinating on ayahuasca. He has always maintained that their 2016 sexual encounter was consensual – but lawyers for LeMaistre say Metro’s team went too far during opening statements on Tuesday by arguing that the two had also had consensual sex before that night at the recording studio.

In all sexual violence trials, there are strict rules that limit the defense from alluding to an alleged victim’s sexual history or apparent proclivities. Typically, a defendant needs to ask permission from the judge before bringing up any sexual conduct that is not tied to the specific incident at issue in a trial.

LeMaistre’s attorneys – led by Michael Willemin of the powerhouse plaintiff’s firm Wigdor – say in a mistrial motion filed late on Tuesday that Metro’s lawyers did not properly seek judicial approval before making these statements about their prior sexual history (which LeMaistre denies).

“If plaintiff’s counsel was provided fair warning and a [hearing] was held, the claim that plaintiff engaged in consensual sex with the defendant prior to the sexual assault would have been precluded,” Willemin writes. “And, even if the court made the determination that the claim of consensual sex pre-dating the sexual assault was far more probative than prejudicial, plaintiff would have known such information was going to be permitted and would certainly have addressed it in plaintiff’s opening statement.”

Willemin says there’s “no possible way to undo” the prejudice that Metro’s opening caused, since jurors cannot unhear this statement. He’s asking Judge R. Gary Klausner to declare a mistrial and start the whole case over again.

Judge Klausner will likely address this issue before the trial is set to resume on Wednesday (Sept. 24). Metro’s lawyers from the firm Sanders Roberts did not immediately return a request for comment on the matter.

LeMaistre sued Metro in 2024, claiming she met the producer in Las Vegas in the spring of 2016. LeMaistre says she confided in Metro about the recent death of her 9-month-old son, and that they “bonded over the ability of music to help people in their darkest moments.”

But LeMaistre’s belief about her bond with Metro allegedly “shattered” the following September, when the producer invited her to watch him work in his California recording studio. LeMaistre says she had a shot of alcohol and half a tablet of Xanax, then blacked out, waking up on a bed in a different location “completely unable to move or make a sound” while Metro raped her.

LeMaistre alleges she became pregnant as a result of the assault and had an abortion in November 2016. Notably, the lawsuit claims the attack is referenced in Metro’s 2017 song “Rap Saved Me” with Offset, 21 Savage and Quavo.

The lyrics in question, rapped by 21 Savage and Offset in the chorus, are: “She took a Xanny, then she fainted/ I’m from the gutter, ain’t no changing/ From the gutter, rap saved me/ She drive me crazy, have my baby.”

The lyrical reference in LeMaistre’s lawsuit is surprising, since Metro is a music producer and songwriter but does not typically write lyrics or rap himself. Metro has denied writing the “Rap Saved Me” lyrics, as well as the rest of LeMaistre’s allegations.

Metro’s position is that LeMaistre has transformed a consensual sexual encounter into a false tale of rape in order to squeeze money out of him. He’s focused heavily on LeMaistre journal entries from when she was high on ayahuasca in 2024, in which she detailed a “plan” to sue Metro for more than $3 million.

The issue of ayahuasca took center stage when LeMaistre testified in court on Tuesday following opening statements. According to a report by independent journalist Meghann Cuniff, LeMaistre insisted from the witness stand that she did not hallucinate on the drug. Rather, said LeMaistre, the ayahuasca merely helped her come to terms with the fact that her nonconsensual sex with Metro had been rape.

Metro himself is due to testify during the trial, which is slated to last four days total.