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Dutch musician Chanaaz Mangroe, who goes by the stage name Channii Monroe is suing Grammy-winning producer The Dream, accusing him of rape, s*x trafficking, and s*xual battery.
Trigger Warning: This article contains mentions of abuse. Readers' discretion is advised.
Channii filed the lawsuit on Tuesday, June 4, under California’s Assembly Bill 2777, also known as the S*xual Abuse and Cover-Up Accountability Act, in the United States District Court in Los Angeles. The Act provides victims of s*xual abuse to seek justice beyond the statute of limitations.
The Dream, whose real name is Terius Adamu Ya Gesteelde-Diamant, first reached out to the Channi in late 2014. At the time, she was 23 and living in the U.S. on an O-1B visa that she got due to her “extraordinary ability in arts.” The singer, originally from the Netherlands, was looking to establish herself in the music industry at the time.
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The lawsuit states that Channii sent Terius a few samples of her work, after which she was flown to Atlanta to work with the producer. According to the filing:
“Dream told her that he would make the next Beyoncé and Rihanna.”
The complaint adds that Terius promised Channii Monroe to help her get a recording and a publishing contract with Contra Paris LLC, his record label, and Epic Records.
However, Channii claimed she was rather lured into “an abusive, violent, and manipulative relationship filled with physical assaults, violent s*xual encounters, and horrific psychological manipulation." She described it as “nothing short of a prolonged nightmare” in the filing.
Channii has also accused Epic Records and Contra Paris LLC of facilitating The Dream’s “depraved behavior.”
Channii Monroe has detailed violent s*xual abuse by The Dream
According to the lawsuit, The Dream demanded complete obedience and gratitude from Channii Monroe and quickly took control of her life and her social media accounts. The filing says he put Channii in one of Atlanta’s Residence Inns and kept a duplicate key to himself to come and go whenever he wished. The Dutch singer was made to stay in her room and only leave for the recording studio or the gym.
During Channii’s stay at the inn, Terius allegedly plied her with alcohol and marijuana and violently pressured her to sleep with him. She accused him of refusing to take protection during their s*x acts and subjected her to non-consensual ejaculation. The complaint states that Terius demanded that Channii get rid of her birth control pills.
The filing says Terius grew increasingly violent and short-tempered in the following months and repeatedly forced Channii Monroe into sleeping with him whenever he demanded. He also allegedly choked her to the point she almost fell unconscious. The filing further says that he also kept video recordings of their s*xual encounters and used them to threaten her.
Channii shared accounts of several other violent s*xual encounters, specifying one where Terius allegedly forced her inside a movie theatre. She also accused him of r*ping and strangling her in the back of a van outside a recording studio. Terius is accused of regularly keeping a gun on him, which he weaponized to force Channii into s*x acts. In one of the instances, as alleged by Channii Monroe, Terius banged her face against the bathroom sink after forcing himself on her.
The Dream allegedly promised Channii an opening act on Beyoncé’s tour. She claimed to have kept in the dark about her album as Terius practiced complete control over all sorts of communications about her contracts. Channii claimed she eventually realized The Dream did not intend to produce her record after discovering that Beyoncé was not preparing for any tour.
The Dutch singer said she reached out to one of his associates about the abuse but was told it was a “personal” issue that she had to solve by herself. As per the filing, another person told Channii:
“Even if you see and know it’s chocolate, if Dream tells you it’s vanilla, it’s vanilla.”
Channii said she began distancing herself from The Dream in 2015, which made him vindictive. She claimed Terius refused to hand over the music they recorded together, which eventually sabotaged her career. She said Terius’ “heinous acts” upended her career, claiming she has not overcome her trauma even after nine years.
Meredith Firetog and Douglas Wigdor are representing Channii Monroe in this lawsuit. The attorneys previously represented Cassie Ventura in her bombshell lawsuit against Diddy last November.
