The estate of Takeoff has reached a settlement in the sexual assault lawsuit filed against the late Migos rapper by a Jane Doe in 2020, bringing the case to a close less than three weeks before its scheduled jury trial.
According to court documents, attorneys representing both sides appeared before Judge Huey P. Cotton in Van Nuys on Thursday (Nov. 12) and confirmed that the Dec. 1 trial would no longer proceed. As reported by Rolling Stone, attorney Tamar Yeghiayan said the formal paperwork to conclude the case would be filed soon, stating, “A dismissal is forthcoming. It will be filed prior to [Dec. 1].”
Doe initially filed the lawsuit in Aug. 2020, accusing Takeoff, whose birth name was Kirsnick Khari Ball, of raping her in a bedroom during a house party in Encino in June 2020. According to the complaint, Takeoff allegedly “flipped her over face-down” despite her explicitly refusing.
According to the lawsuit, she visited a nearby hospital later that same day, where medical staff documented what the complaint described as physical evidence of rape before notifying the LAPD. However, Los Angeles prosecutors declined to pursue criminal charges in April 2021, citing insufficient evidence.
Takeoff denied the allegations through his attorney, Drew Findling, who described the rapper as “a target of an obvious exploitative money grab.” The estate has continued to maintain that the woman fabricated the allegations in an attempt to extort money.
In the weeks leading up to trial, Takeoff’s estate sought sanctions after Doe admitted under oath that she had deleted relevant text messages after filing her lawsuit. Her legal team argued, however, that the defense waited several years before requesting the messages and had never issued a notice requiring their preservation.
Doe’s Nov. 9 witness list included more than a dozen LAPD officers, as well as DJ Durel, the Migos producer she claims invited her to the party. The filing also revealed that she intended to present jurors with two hours of Takeoff’s videotaped deposition, recorded on Sept. 27, 2022.
Takeoff gave that deposition exactly five weeks before he was shot and killed outside 810 Billiards & Bowling in Houston on Nov. 1, 2022. Following his death, his mother, Titania Davenport, took over his estate, which was subsequently named as the defendant in the case.
The settlement brings an end to one of several legal battles connected to the late rapper. Meanwhile, Patrick Xavier Clark, who is accused of killing Takeoff, has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to stand trial in April.
