He has written hit songs for Beyoncé, Rihanna, Britney Spears and several other chart-topping artists, won eight Grammy Awards and released a handful of albums. Now Atlanta songwriter, singer and record producer Terius “The-Dream” Gesteelde-Diamant is the latest entertainment heavyweight accused of rape and sexual assault.
Gesteelde-Diamant was sued Tuesday in a California federal court by singer Chanaaz Mangroe, known professionally as Channii Monroe. The Netherlands-based plaintiff claims she was lured by Gesteelde-Diamant to Atlanta in 2014 under the guise of pursuing a legitimate recording contract.
Instead, the then-23-year-old experienced an “abusive, violent, and manipulative relationship filled with physical assaults, violent sexual encounters, and horrific psychological manipulation,” the lawsuit states.
“Far from being the amazing breakthrough opportunity she imagined, Ms. Mangroe’s experience with Dream was nothing short of a prolonged nightmare,” the complaint states.
Mangroe’s legal team includes the attorney who represented singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura in her sex trafficking and sexual assault lawsuit against music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, which was settled the day after it was filed in November. Video footage has since emerged that appears to show Combs physically assaulting Ventura in a hotel.
In a statement provided to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Mangroe said choosing to speak out about the trauma she survived has been one of the most difficult decisions in her life.
“What Dream did to me made it impossible to live the life I envisioned for myself and pursue my goals as a singer and songwriter,” she said. “Ultimately, my silence has become too painful, and I realized that I need to tell my story to heal. I hope that doing so will also help others and prevent future horrific abuse.”
Representatives for Gesteelde-Diamant did not immediately respond to an inquiry about the allegations. He faces civil claims of sex trafficking, sexual battery and rape.
Mangroe also brought sex trafficking claims against Epic Records, a label owned by Sony Music, and Gesteelde-Diamant’s company Contra Paris LLC. Epic Records did not immediately respond to questions about the case.
In 2014, Mangroe was working in the United States and “hoping to land her big break as a singer and songwriter,” the lawsuit states. She said she was invited to join Gesteelde-Diamant and his work partner, Christopher “Tricky” Stewart, in Atlanta after associates of Gesteelde-Diamant reached out to her through social media.
Gesteelde-Diamant used his age and influence in the music industry to manipulate Mangroe, the complaint alleges. It states that he forced Mangroe to diet and exercise excessively in preparation for participating in an upcoming Beyoncé tour, and locked her in a dark room alongside a recording studio where she was left naked and alone for hours.
In addition to violent sexual acts, Gesteelde-Diamant forced Mangroe to drink excessive amounts of alcohol by “roughly pulling her head back by her hair and pouring alcohol down her throat,” the complaint states. He allegedly choked and strangled her numerous times, raped her in a van and forced her to engage in sex acts in a public movie theater.
Mangroe said Gesteelde-Diamant also recorded her during sexual acts and used the existence of the recordings to threaten her into silence. She claimed the abuse lasted for more than a year.
“His depraved behavior was facilitated by his record label, Contra Paris LLC, as well as by Epic Records – the label Dream convinced to invest in Ms. Mangroe, despite the fact that he never intended to truly support her career trajectory, but instead wanted corporate funding to assist in his trafficking venture,” the lawsuit states.
Mangroe said her attempts to revive her music career have been “hijacked” by Gesteelde-Diamant and his supporters. She said she is “broken as an artist, constantly afraid for her physical safety, and plagued by reminders of the violence and control she experienced at the hands of Dream, who has continued his successful career unscathed by his horrific acts.”
Mangroe’s attorneys said her experience is “yet another horrific example of how men in the music industry use their power and influence to manipulate and harm others.”
“Dream, like Sean Combs did with Ms. Ventura and others, used his standing as a prominent recording artist and producer to subject Ms. Mangroe to vicious physical, psychological, and sexual abuse,” they said. “While she will never fully recover from what he and those who supported him did to her, her willingness to speak out now is evidence of her extraordinary strength.”
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