XXXTentacion is dropping the defamation suit he filed against a woman involved in an old video after she reportedly changed her story.
XXXTentacion's Controversy
To recall, in March, a video posted on Snapchat saw the rapper, whose real name is Jahseh Dwayne Onfroy, dancing behind an unnamed woman. What was surprising was the part where he appeared to hit her on the side of her head.
The video went viral and XXXTentacion received criticism. Jaclyn Broudy, the rapper's attorney, previously claimed that the woman in the video was one of his friends and he was "obviously acting in jest." She also insisted that the video was dated and the Florida MC is now a changed person.
However, in April, the 20-year-old filed a lawsuit against the woman for releasing the video on the internet. He also alleged that the woman's grandparents phoned him and asked him what he is willing to do to make the issue go away. He also said that the grandparents asked for $300,000 in exchange for the woman's silence.
In a statement on Instagram, the woman said that the reason why she did not release the video earlier was that she feared for her life. She also said that the video was leaked.
The Narrative Changes
However, in a new report, the woman in the video changed her mind and recanted her previous claim. In documents obtained by TMZ, the woman said that as soon as the video was posted online, she received a call from XXXTentacion's management. She said that she neither personally posted the video online nor she has any idea how the video got out.
In addition, the woman said that she, too, was surprised that people were making a big deal out of the issue.
"I also told [the rapper's manager] I was surprised that people were making such a big deal about it," the document reads. "The video was taken years ago when Jahseh and I were both kids and we were just joking around. I was not injured as a result of what happened nor did it negatively affect my personal life."
She will not pursue legal actions against the rapper. A representative from the hip-hop star's camp said that they were pleased with the woman's statement.
This news comes after Spotify pulled out songs by the rapper from its site-curated playlists and recommendation features following the assault claim. In response, he questioned whether the site will also censor other popular artists accused of misconduct.
a response from XXXTentacion's team on Spotify's decision to remove him from playlists pic.twitter.com/ivtEDJ2yGS — Joe Coscarelli (@joecoscarelli) May 10, 2018
