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Soulja Boy Found Liable in Civil Trial; Jury Awarded About $4 Million in Compensatory Damages

A Santa Monica jury found Soulja Boy liable on several claims in 2025. The initial award included about $4 million in compensatory damages; later reporting described a reduced punitive award and added fees and costs.
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A Santa Monica civil jury found rapper Soulja Boy, whose legal name is DeAndre Cortez Way, liable on several claims brought by a former assistant identified in court coverage as Jane Doe. On April 10, 2025, the jury awarded about $4 million in compensatory damages and $250,000 in punitive damages. Later reporting in January 2026 said the plaintiff accepted a reduction of the punitive award to $50,000 and that the judge awarded attorney fees and costs.

Was Soulja Boy found liable?

Yes. The jury found Way liable in the civil case brought by his former assistant. The trial began in Santa Monica in March 2025, and the plaintiff had filed the case in January 2021, according to the Los Angeles Times.

This was a civil verdict, not a criminal conviction. The plaintiff has remained publicly identified as Jane Doe; this article follows the name used in coverage.

What did the jury find?

Contemporary reporting said the jury found Way liable on claims including sexual battery and assault. Coverage also reported findings involving gender violence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, sexual harassment and unpaid wages. The jury cleared him on false-imprisonment and constructive-discharge claims. Reports do not enumerate the claims identically, so these descriptions should not be read as a complete reproduction of the verdict form, which was not available in the cited reporting.

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The jury’s findings are distinct from the allegations made in the complaint and at trial. Reporting on alleged conduct is not evidence that every alleged act was separately found by the jury.

How much was Soulja Boy ordered to pay?

The jury’s April 2025 award was widely reported as approximately $4 million in compensatory damages plus $250,000 in punitive damages, for an initial total of about $4.25 million. The Associated Press reported the verdict and the damages figures; its account also summarized the jury’s liability findings.

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Compensatory damages are intended to compensate for harm; punitive damages are a separate award. These are the amounts reported for the jury’s initial verdict, not a statement that the full sum was ultimately paid or remains the final amount owed.

Did the award change after the trial?

Yes, according to MyNewsLA’s January 2026 report. The plaintiff accepted a reduction of the punitive award from $250,000 to $50,000 to avoid a retrial on that portion of the case. The report also said Judge Mark H. Epstein awarded $658,000 in attorney fees and $159,280 in costs—about $817,000 combined. These later-reported fees and costs are separate from the jury’s damages awards.

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The initial punitive award and the reported reduction describe different stages of the case; they should not be combined as though both punitive figures were owed. MyNewsLA’s account is the source for the later reduction and fee ruling: its January 2026 report.

What did the legal teams say?

After the verdict, plaintiff’s attorney Neama Rahmani told the Associated Press: “Today’s verdict is just the beginning of justice for Soulja Boy’s victims, and other victims in the music industry.” That is the plaintiff’s attorney’s characterization, not the jury’s explanation of its decision.

Lead defense attorney Rickey Ivie told AP: “We maintain that the evidence does not support the verdict. It is unfortunate that aspersions and misperceptions of a culture were allowed to influence the trial. Mr. Way fully intends to pursue his post-trial remedies and to fight for a just result in this case.” This was a statement of the defense position and intended response at the time; the available reporting does not establish the current status of those remedies.

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What is known about the case’s current status?

The cited coverage establishes the 2025 jury verdict and the developments reported by MyNewsLA in January 2026. It does not establish whether a later appeal, collection action or post-trial order changed the result, or whether any amount has been paid. The verdict should therefore not be described as paid or as an unquestioned final judgment on the basis of these reports alone.

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