A New York judge sided with Charlamagne Tha God’s co-defendant Simon & Schuster in his sexual assault accuser’s lawsuit against him and the publisher. According to court documents obtained by AllHipHop, Judge Ona T. Wang granted Simon & Schuster’s motion to dismiss Jessica Reid’s defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims on Wednesday (August 14).
Judge Wang said Reid’s claims against Simon & Schuster failed on several procedural grounds. The judge cited Reid’s reliance on New York’s Child Victims Act as one example.
“The CVA does not apply to plaintiff’s defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims against [Simon & Schuster] because defamation and IIED arising out of the publication of a book do not constitute a sexual offense under New York criminal law,” the judge wrote.
Judge Wang added, “Second, even if the CVA did revive time-barred defamation and IIED claims that arise out of an alleged sexual assault, plaintiff’s claims were not timely. Courts have uniformly found that the two-year revival period for claims brought under the CVA ended on August 14, 2021. Plaintiff filed her complaint on December 19, 2022, more than a year following the end of the revival period.”
Reid accused Charlamagne, whose real name is Lenard McKelvey, of sexually assaulting her at a party in 2001. She was 15 at the time.
Charlamagne wrote about the incident in his book Black Privilege, which was published by Simon & Schuster in 2017. Reid sued Charlamagne and his publisher, but Judge Wang saw no merit in Reid’s defamation claim.
“McKelvey’s recounting of the assault and its aftermath is entirely compatible with plaintiff’s account of the assault except for plaintiff’s allegation that she was able to see McKelvey’s face prior to his sexually assaulting her,” the judge determined. “In any event, McKelvey’s account, although self-serving in its version of events, does not ‘expose’ [Reid] ‘to hatred, shame, obloquy, contumely, odium, contempt, ridicule, aversion, ostracism, degradation or disgrace.’”
Judge Wang said Reid did not “sufficiently allege [Simon & Schuster] acted with actual malice or with negligence in publishing McKelvey’s account.” The judge noted Reid “failed to allege that defendant either exhibited any form of extreme and outrageous conduct or intended to cause plaintiff severe emotional distress.”
Charlamagne was arrested for “willfully, unlawfully and feloniously engaging in penile/vaginal intercourse with a 15-year-old child minor” in 2001. The rape charge was dismissed. He pleaded guilty to contributing to the delinquency of a minor for underage drinking at his party. “The Breakfast Club” host denied sexually assaulting Reid.
