Damon Dash Wins Verdict, Found Not Liable in Sexual Battery Lawsuit

A jury ruled in Damon Dash’s favor over accusations that the Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder sexually assaulted a photographer at his home.

The four-day trial ended on Wednesday with a jury finding Dash not liable for the sexual battery he was accused of, Billboard reports.

Monique Bunn lost the lawsuit she filed against Dash in 2019 accusing the hip-hop mogul of inappropriately touching her while she slept at his house during a video project.

Bunn added defamation to the lawsuit after Dash called her out on social media and accused her of charging thousands to his credit card without permission. Dash testified at the trial and called Bunn’s allegations “ridiculous” and labeled her a “con artist.”

Last week, Bunn testified and recalled her claims of waking up inside Dash’s daughters’ room to “something on the left side of my like lower back onto my butt, down my thigh,” Law360 reports. Bunn also claimed that Dash’s social media post and radio interview which mentioned her, ended her career.

“I lost everything, I have nothing,” she said.

While Bunn lost on the sexual assault claims, jurors did find Dash liable for defamation and awarded Bunn just $30,000 in damages on that claim. The $30,000 is far below the tens of millions the photographer was seeking from the lawsuit.

Bunn accused Dash of stealing 100,000 photos she took of hip-hop artists. She was seeking $50 million for the sexual assault claim as well as $1,500 per stolen photo, for a whopping total of $200 million in damages, as noted by The Jasmine Brand.

In addition to the assault and defamation, Bunn also claimed Dash refused to return a large number of photos he allegedly took from her. While the judge ruled that Dash was liable for that claim, Bunn received no financial reward for the stolen photos.

Following the verdict, Bunn said she was “thankful to the jury for the result on my defamation claim” and that she was “pleased I can move forward” after four years of litigation.