US rapper Nelly asks for British woman's rape claim to be dismissed
The musician is accused of targeting the unnamed woman after a performance at the Cliffs Pavilion in Essex.
Saturday 26 January 2019 06:45, UK
The rapper Nelly is asking a US court to dismiss a British woman's lawsuit claiming he sexually assaulted her after a concert.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has accused the US artist of targeting her in a dressing room at the Cliffs Pavilion in Essex in December 2017.
A federal lawsuit was filed in the 44-year-old rapper's hometown St Louis, Missouri, in November.
Nelly, whose real name is Cornell Haynes Jr, has not been criminally charged and denies the allegations.
The woman is identified only as Jane Doe in the lawsuit.
Scott Rosenblum, Nelly's lawyer, filed a response on Thursday.
He argued the woman should not be allowed to remain anonymous and "avoid public scrutiny".
The woman alleges she paid to have her photo taken with the rapper after the concert before he took her to a separate room and sexually assaulted her.
Her lawyer Karen Koehler said the woman reported the incident to police more than a year ago and she believes the investigation is ongoing.
Mr Rosenblum argued a "cloak of anonymity" for the accuser invites people with personal vendettas "to use the federal court system as a tool to inflict calculated harm against others' reputations" while protecting themselves from scrutiny "that false accusations properly risk and invite".
The lawsuit is the second such case filed against the rapper.
Nelly settled a lawsuit filed by a woman who alleged he raped her on his tour bus in suburban Seattle in September.
Police in Washington arrested Nelly in October 2017, but prosecutors did not file charges, citing a lack of co-operation by the accuser.
Mr Rosenblum said those accusations were fabricated.