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Artist News Legal
Migos’ Takeoff will not face criminal charges following sexual assault accusation
By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 6 April 2021
Migos rapper Takeoff will not face criminal charges in relation to an accusation of rape made last year. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has said that there is insufficient evidence to proceed with the case. Civil action in relation to the alleged assault will proceed, however.
The accusation first came to light in August last year, when an unidentified woman sued Takeoff – real name Kirshnik Khari Ball – saying that he had attacked her at a house party they had both attended in June. The civil legal action was only filed, the woman’s attorney Neama Rahmani said at the time, due to inaction from police and the DA’s office.
“I’ve never seen a case like this”, Rahmani told The Guardian when the lawsuit was filed. “We had to take matters in our own hands and file a civil lawsuit and not wait for the District Attorney’s office. We hope this motivates LAPD to move more aggressively with a criminal case”.
The lawsuit states that at some point during the house party, Takeoff followed the woman to a bedroom, where he assaulted her after she said that she did not want to have sex with him. Hours later, she went to a hospital where she was examined and observed to have “physical evidence of forceful rape”, and the following day went to the police.
In a statement to TMZ last August, Takeoff’s attorney Drew Findling strongly denied the accusation of rape, saying the accusations were “patently and provably false” and that the rapper is “renowned for his artistic talent as well as his quiet, reserved and peaceful personality”.
“In this instance, those known personality traits have made him a target of an obvious exploitative money grab”, said Findling. “As his counsel, we are well aware and well versed on the importance of civil and criminal prosecution of true sexual assaults. This is not one of those situations”.
In a new statement to Pitchfork yesterday, following the confirmation that the criminal case would not be taken further, Rahami said: “Our client is disappointed in the decision of the Los Angeles County District Attorney, who has once again shown he is soft on crime and cares more about the rights of criminal defendants than victims of sexual assault. She looks forward to receiving the justice she deserves in her civil case”.
