Metro Boomin Assault Lawsuit Headed to Trial as Settlement Talks Fail

Metro Boomin’s civil rape lawsuit is slated to go to trial in September after “unsuccessful” settlement negotiations between the superstar producer and a woman who alleges he assaulted and impregnated her in 2016.

Vanessa LeMaistre’s 2024 lawsuit claims she blacked out after ingesting Xanax and alcohol in Metro Boomin’s studio during a recording session and later woke up to the producer (Leland Wayne) raping her. The producer denies sexually assaulting LeMaistre, and his lawyers have called the case a “pure shakedown.”

The lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial in Los Angeles federal court starting Sept. 23. According to a court filing from Monday (Aug. 11), attorneys for Metro and LeMaistre attempted to avert a trial by holding a mediation session with a retired judge in July but were unable to agree on a deal.

“After the mediation, the parties have continued limited settlement discussions, which have proven unsuccessful,” says the joint status report. “The parties are currently preparing the matter for trial.”

L.A. jurors will now be tasked with deciding whether Metro raped LeMaistre, who claims she met the producer in Las Vegas in the spring of 2016. LeMaistre says she confided in Metro about the recent death of her 9-month-old son, and that they “bonded over the ability of music to help people in their darkest moments.”

But LeMaistre’s belief about her bond with Metro allegedly “shattered” the following September, when the producer invited her to watch him work in his California recording studio. LeMaistre says she had a shot of alcohol and half a bar of Xanax, then blacked out, waking up on a bed in a different location “completely unable to move or make a sound” while Metro raped her.

LeMaistre alleges she became pregnant as a result of the assault and had an abortion in November 2016. Notably, the lawsuit claims the attack is referenced in Metro’s 2017 song “Rap Saved Me” with Offset, 21 Savage and Quavo.

The lyrics in question, rapped by 21 Savage and Offset in the chorus, are: “She took a Xanny, then she fainted/ I’m from the gutter, ain’t no changing/ From the gutter, rap saved me/ She drive me crazy, have my baby.”

The lyrical reference in LeMaistre’s lawsuit is surprising, since Metro is a music producer and songwriter but does not typically write lyrics or rap himself. Metro has denied writing the “Rap Saved Me” lyrics, as well as the rest of LeMaistre’s allegations.

Metro’s attorneys say in court filings that the producer and LeMaistre had fully consensual sex in 2016, and that the plaintiff concocted an “elaborate and grandiose plan” to fabricate assault allegations and demand millions of dollars from Metro while under the influence of ayahuasca eight years later.

Reached for comment on Tuesday (Aug. 12), Metro’s lawyer Lawrence Hinkle referred Billboard to his statement last year, in which he called the lawsuit “a pure shakedown.”

“These are false accusations,” said Hinkle when the lawsuit was filed in October. “Mr. Wayne refused to pay her months ago, and he refuses to pay her now. Mr. Wayne will defend himself in court. He will file a claim for malicious prosecution once he prevails.”

LeMaistre’s attorney, Michael Willemin, said in his own Tuesday statement that Metro “has failed to comply with basic discovery obligations” since the case began.

“Meanwhile, we and Ms. LeMaistre have pushed the case forward aggressively, and, because of that, we are headed towards trial on September 23, 2025,” says Willemin. “We look forward to holding Mr. Wayne accountable in front of a jury of his peers.”