Metro Boomin indicted on rape and sexual assault allegations

Hip-hop producer and songwriter Metro Boomin has been charged with sexually assaulting and raping a former girlfriend, who claims their 2016 encounter led to a terminated pregnancy.

Metro (née Leland T. Wayne) was sued by Vanessa LeMaistre in Los Angeles Superior Court on October 29, in a filing that his attorney called a “pure shakedown.”

LeMaistre, 38, is seeking a jury trial and damages after claiming she had a “blackout” and was woken up by the 31-year-old Grammy-nominated star raping her in a Beverly Hills hotel room, according to the complaint, which was obtained by PEOPLE.

“These are false accusations. Mr. Wayne refused to pay her months ago, and he refuses to pay her now,” Wayne’s attorney Lawrence Hinkle II told PEOPLE in a statement. “Sir. Wayne will defend himself in court. He will file a claim for malicious prosecution once he is victorious.”

The complaint states that LeMaistre was “deeply distraught and in mourning” over the death of her nine-month-old son Kamden in February 2016 when she met Wayne through mutual friends in the spring of 2016 in Las Vegas.

She claims he invited her to visit him at recording studios in California, where she lived, and that she did so because she loved music and was looking for an “escape from the pain” of her son’s death. It didn’t take long for her and Wayne to “develop a friendly bond,” the complaint says.

In September 2016, LeMaistre claims she went to his studio to watch him work, and after taking a shot of alcohol and half a Xanax bar, she and the producer sat on the couch and discussed their “mutual depression” ; her over the death of her son, and Wayne over a breakup with his long-term girlfriend, according to the complaint.

The complaint says LeMaistre then “blacked out,” then remembers waking up in a bed with Wayne allegedly raping her. She was “in and out of consciousness for an unknown period of time, but at some point woke up when Wayne performed oral sex on her,” according to the complaint.

LeMaistre discovered she was pregnant several weeks later and would have known Wayne was the father since she had not had sex with anyone else, the complaint said. In November 2016, she had an abortion.

The complaint states that in subsequent years, LeMaistre occasionally contacted Wayne “to ask how he was doing and to say a kind word” as a way to convince himself that the rape had not occurred. Her lawyers also cited “dozens of misogynistic tweets” written by the star as evidence that he has a “light-hearted attitude toward sexual assault and drugging women.”

“Metro Boomin has built a successful career on texts and social media that are not only offensive, but also explicitly portray his intentions to harm women,” her attorneys Michael J. Willemin and Monica Hincken told PEOPLE in a statement. “These are more than just words, and it is time he is held accountable for his manipulative tactics and unacceptable behavior.”

Wayne was nominated for Producer of the Year at the 2024 Grammy Awards and is known for his collaborations with stars like Future, Travis Scott, 21 wild And Big Sean. He also created the soundtrack for the animated hit Spider-Man: About the Spider-Verse.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit rainn.org.