Rapper DMX has been forced to pay out $1.5 million (£750,000) to the mother of his child, after failing to turn up to a Maryland court on Friday (January 11th, 2008) to defend himself against allegations of defamation.
"The Party Up (Up In Here)" MC - real name Earl Simmons - was sued by Monique Wayne for defamation of character in 2006 after the star claimed he was raped by the woman during a hotel stay in Baltimore in 2003.
He told American magazine Sister 2 Sister, "She raped me. DNA says it is (my child). I don’t know. If I did (have sex with her), I would remember. It ain’t like she’s a pretty girl." Wayne responded to the comments by filing a $6 million (£3 million) lawsuit against Simmons in Prince George’s County Circuit Court in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, in October 2006.
And Judge Thomas Smith ruled in Wayne’s favor on Friday when Simmons skipped the scheduled court hearing, ordering the rapper to pay her $518,400 (£259,200) in compensation, plus a further $1 million (£500,000) in punitive penalties, reports the New York Post.
Following the ruling, Wayne told the newspaper, "It’s not so much the price, it’s the point I wanted to get across. Let him think about what he’s going to say before he says it." A spokesman for DMX has yet to comment.
Source: World Entertainment News Network
"The Party Up (Up In Here)" MC - real name Earl Simmons - was sued by Monique Wayne for defamation of character in 2006 after the star claimed he was raped by the woman during a hotel stay in Baltimore in 2003.
He told American magazine Sister 2 Sister, "She raped me. DNA says it is (my child). I don’t know. If I did (have sex with her), I would remember. It ain’t like she’s a pretty girl." Wayne responded to the comments by filing a $6 million (£3 million) lawsuit against Simmons in Prince George’s County Circuit Court in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, in October 2006.
And Judge Thomas Smith ruled in Wayne’s favor on Friday when Simmons skipped the scheduled court hearing, ordering the rapper to pay her $518,400 (£259,200) in compensation, plus a further $1 million (£500,000) in punitive penalties, reports the New York Post.
Following the ruling, Wayne told the newspaper, "It’s not so much the price, it’s the point I wanted to get across. Let him think about what he’s going to say before he says it." A spokesman for DMX has yet to comment.
Source: World Entertainment News Network
