Nelly's Girlfriend Shantel Jackson Denies Defaming His Alleged Assault Victim
By Ryan Naumann on October 14, 2019 at 9:32 AM EDT
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Rapper Nelly’s girlfriend Shantel Jackson is firing back at his alleged assault victim in court.
According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Jackson is demanding to be let out of the woman’s lawsuit.
Last year, Nelly was sued by Jane Doe over an alleged 2017 sexual assault. The woman added Shantel Jackson as a defendant over a series of tweets. Jackson called the women accusing Nelly of assault liars. She claimed to be with Nelly on the date of the alleged assault.
In newly filed court documents, Jackson says she did nothing wrong. She points out her tweet never even named the woman.
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Jackson says, “In fact, Plaintiff’s identity has remained hidden to the world. Thus, how can there be damage to Plaintiff’s reputation in Missouri when no one knows her true identity? In an effort to satisfy this element of defamation, Plaintiff alleges that she sustained damage to her reputation in Essex, England among her friends and police officers who knew that she was a Jane Doe who accused co-defendant of illicit acts.”
She argues, “Plaintiff has proceeded anonymously with her allegations; thus, assuming arguendo that the statement is directed at Plaintiff, no one else knows that because even almost two years after the post, Plaintiff has successfully kept her identity hidden. Even taking the statement and the innuendo advocated by Plaintiff as true, no one knows that Plaintiff is being referred to in the post. Again, how can there be damage to a person’s reputation when the purported defamatory statement fails to identify the Plaintiff AND the Plaintiff has kept her identity hidden.”
Jackson says her tweet was not defamatory and only contained her opinion. She also argues, “Other than being the girlfriend of an artist who is commonly affiliated with St. Louis, Defendant has no ties to the State of Missouri.” (where the case was filed)
She wants to be dismissed entirely from the case.
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Back in November, Jane Doe sued Nelly over an alleged sexual assault following a 2017 concert in England. The woman claims after going backstage to meet the star, he exposed himself and began masturbating in front of her before allegedly forcing his erect penis inside her mouth.
In addition to her sexual assault claim, Jane Doe also sued Shantel Jackson, for defamation because of comments she made on social media.
Jackson wrote on social media, “that the women accusing Defendant of sexual assault are liars who “make things harder” for “women dealing with real issues of sexual assault.”
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During the legal battle, Nelly demanded Jane Doe be forced to reveal her identity, believing the woman should not be allowed to avoid public scrutiny by hiding “behind a cloak of anonymity.”
Doe accused the rapper of attempting to intimidate “his sexual assault victim into dropping her case by publicly “outing” her.” Doe said if forced to reveal her true identity it risked causing her additional psychological trauma. The judge sided with Doe, allowing her to keep her identity private.
The case is ongoing.
Shantel is also involved in a separate legal battle with her ex-boyfriend, Floyd Mayweather.
