Snoop Dogg sued for alleged sexual assault days before Super Bowl LVI halftime show performance

A woman has filed a lawsuit against Snoop Dogg and his longtime friend Don "Magic" Juan days before the rapper is set to perform at the Super Bowl LVI halftime show.

According to court documents filed in California and obtained by EW, the woman — referenced as "Jane Doe" — alleges that the 50-year-old violated the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and committed sexual battery and sexual assault. Snoop Dogg has denied the allegations.

The complaint seeks monetary and punitive damages for an incident that reportedly occurred on May 29, 2013, when the plaintiff — described as a professional dancer and spokesmodel who also "worked for and performed with" Snoop Dogg — alleges that she and a friend attended one of the rapper's shows at Club Heat Ultra Lounge in Anaheim, Calif. They reportedly accompanied Juan as he left the venue, with Doe recalling that her friend left the group after midnight. Doe allegedly asked to be taken home. Instead, Doe says she was taken to Juan's home, where she fell asleep and allegedly woke up to him forcing oral sex on her at around 4 a.m.

According to the suit, Juan later took her to a studio where Snoop Dogg filmed his series Snoop Dogg's Double G News Network, where Doe alleges that the rapper followed her into a bathroom and forced her to perform oral sex on him. The suit says the alleged incident left her "panicked and terrified" as well as "afraid for her safety and for her life." She says she was asked to take a photo with Snoop after she emerged from the bathroom and that she complied because she was "mortified and fearing for her safety."

In a statement provided to EW on Friday, a representative for Snoop Dogg called the accusations "meritless" and "part of a self-enrichment shakedown scheme" timed to his Super Bowl performance. The rep said Snoop Dogg "has never [had] any sexual encounter whatsoever" with the plaintiff.

"[Her] scheme involves concocting a legal complaint as an anonymous 'Jane Doe' plaintiff, and, knowing full well it can be a public document, filing this complaint late Wednesday, only three [days] before the Super Bowl," the statement continued. "In the complaint [she] manufactures an occurrence of more than 8 years ago, in 2013, for her false allegations. They are similar to what she filed using her own name as the plaintiff in December 2021 with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing."

Doe says in the complaint that she suffered "anxiety, stress, depression, nightmares, sleep disturbances, post-traumatic stress, headaches, severe emotional distress, and physical ailments" after the alleged encounters. She says she attempted to resolve the situation in a private meeting on Tuesday, but the parties failed to come to an agreement and the suit was filed after, as the suit outlines, the rapper shared the following Instagram post referencing "gold digger season" in the aftermath of the alleged mediation.

Snoop Dogg is set to take the halftime show stage Sunday during the Super Bowl LVI broadcast, alongside fellow recording artists Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Dr. Dre, and Kendrick Lamar.

This article has been updated with a response from Snoop Dogg. Additional reporting by Celine Wojtala.

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