Roc-A-Fella Co-Founder Dame Dash Sued For $50 Million In Sexual Battery Case: What We Know
He allegedly groped a photographer while she was staying at his house.
Getty Legendary record executive and entrepreneur Damon Dash is in hot water after a photographer alleges that he sexually assaulted her.
Monique Bunn was in LA to take photos for the former Roc-A-Fella co-founder's clothing line and she was staying at his home. She woke up in the middle of the night to find he was touching her.
Bunn managed to stop Dash from escalating the assault any further and left his house the following day. Now Bunn is suing Dash for $50 million dollars, saying not only did he commit sexual battery, but he also won't return photography equipment and photos that she left behind in his home.
Who is Dame Dash?
1. Who Is Dame Dash? He's a successful entrepreneur.
Dash made his name when he co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records with Jay-Z and Kareem "Biggs" Burke in 1995. The trio grew the label from a project meant to put out Jay-Z's album Reasonable Doubt, to a major force in the recording industry. Eventually, they sold half the company to Def Jam records and they continued to grow, putting out albums by artists like Foxy Brown and Kanye West.
In 2005, Jay-Z revealed that Def Jam was buying the remaining 50 percent of the label and he would stay on as President and CEO of Def Jam. Dash and Burke were left out of the deal. Later, Jay-Z said it wasn't personal; it was about keeping control of his masters.
2. Dash was involved with Aaliyah at the time of her death.
In 2000, Dash met Aaliyah through his accountant and the two struck up a friendship. It quickly grew into a romance, and Dash remembers their connection as being unlike anything he had ever experienced before.
"It was like something was going down in history every time I was with her. Every time I was around her I felt it was the place to be," he recalled in an interview ten years after her death. "Our time together meant so much that when we got more time, we felt like that [engagement] would be next. She was one of the best people I ever met. Even with the pain I felt, I would do it all over again."
3. He's had trouble with other women in his past.
In 2005, Dash married Rachel Roy, who he had dated and with whom he had his daughter Ava in 1999, before he dated Aaliyah. The couple had a second daughter, Tallulah, in 2008. They split up in 2009 and have been in and out of court ever since. In 2015, Roy filed a domestic abuse complaint about Dash and got a three-year restraining order against him. It extended to his daughters as well.
Dash was arrested in 2019 over two cases of unpaid child support. He owned Roy almost $400,000 and he owed Cindy Morales, who is the mother of his son Lucky, $62,000. He has another son, Dame "Boogie" Dash with Linda Williams. Either he's paid up on child support with that part of his family or they just haven't been to court yet.
Dash and his current fiancé, Raquel Horn.
4. He was trying to promote his clothing brand when he assaulted Bunn.
Dash hired Monique Bunn to do photos for his clothing brand Poppington. Bunn is known for her work photographing hip hop stars.
He reportedly flew her to LA for the shoot and offered to let her spend the night in the house he shared with his current fiancé Raquel Horn. He offered Bunn his daughter's room for the night and that's where she went to bed.
A throwback photo of Biggie Smalls taken by Monique Bunn.
5. Bunn woke up with Dash's hands on her body.
According to the filing, she woke up sometime in the night with Dash standing above her. "While Bunn was sleeping, Dash approached Bunn and placed his hand on Bunn’s breasts and placed hands/fingers on Bunn’s buttocks,” the lawsuit reveals. “Dash did not have the permission or consent to touch Bunn’s sexual organs. Dash was wearing a robe and had no underwear on. Dash had been drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana all day.”
“Upon waking up due to the unauthorized touching by Dash, Bunn was able to get Dash’s hands off her breasts and buttocks," the documents continue. "Dash backed up and asked Bunn 'what are you doing?' Bunn responded and said 'I am sleeping' and 'I will fight you' to Dash. Dash then left the room. Bunn was angry and frustrated by Dash’s offensive and unwanted touching. Bunn stayed at the Dash residence and did not sleep that evening.”
6. Dash tried to buy her silence afterward.
Bunn claims she left the house the next day but says that Dash tried to keep her from talking by promising her a WETv reality show about her life. It turned out he didn't have any contact with WETv and the reality show was just something he made up to try and keep her from talking about the alleged assault.
Bunn also claims that Dash and his fiancé kept photography equipment that she left in the house, such as 20 years worth of photos of celebrities including Mary J. Blige, Queen Latifah, Lil Kim, The Fugees, Missy Elliot, Russell Simmons, Lauryn Hill, Outkast, LL Cool J, and President George Bush.
7. Dash denies the allegations.
In an Instagram post attacking Bunn's attorney Chris Brown, Dash wrote "#ChrisBrownTheLawyer is a culture vulture. He is now trying to start the black Harvey Weinstein me too movement against me and he is representing another lawsuit with another allegation #ChrisBrownTheLawyer I’m gonna deal with this on a beach in Hawaii ... I will not be extorted..."
The lawsuit is asking for $50 million in damages.
Rebekah Kuschmider has been writing about celebrities, pop culture, entertainment, and politics since 2010. She is the creator of the blog FeminXer and she is a cohost of the weekly podcast The More Perfect Union.