Back on the stand, Soulja Boy tells his side of the story in civil trial over sexual assault claims

LOS ANGELES (CN) — Soulja Boy returned to the witness stand on Wednesday to defend his behavior toward a woman who says the rapper hired her as his live-in assistant and subjected her to years of abuse.

The unnamed woman has said Soulja Boy, whose real name DeAndre Way, regularly raped and beat her, and on several occasions, he locked her inside a room for more than a day without feeding her. However, she said the two managed to form an unlikely bond and fell in love, though the relationship was a tumultuous one. Both became increasingly envious and nasty toward each other, and Way once again began physically assaulting her, she said.

The plaintiff’s attorneys called Way to the stand as a hostile witness last week, when he denied ever assaulting the woman or even formally hiring her as his assistant. On Wednesday, he returned to the stand, this time questioned by his own lawyers.

The crux of the trial revolves around testimony of both Way and the plaintiff. The two central pieces of evidence are photographs of the plaintiff’s bruises and a long text message thread between Way and the plaintiff that tracked the emotional ups and downs of their stormy relationship. The thread included instances of him instructing her to pick up fast food and marijuana, both of which he consumed in copious amounts. It included mutual exchanges of love, accusations, angry denunciations, contrition and longing for one another.

Addressing some of the more caustic text messages, such as “Fuck u bitch,” Way said that they were done in the “regular vernacular of the culture of rap” and were not meant as offensive. As to text messages in which he appears to threaten her, such as “Die bitch. Shoulda killed your stupid ass,” Way explained: “I just meant you’re dead to me. It wasn’t meant as a threat or violence.”

“Is this lingo?” his attorney, Rickey Ivie of Ivie McNeill Wyatt Purcell & Diggs, asked.

“Yes,” Way replied. He later explained: “I was very emotional.”

Way has said that the relationship was always a mutual, if especially rocky, one. Many times, after going through a rough patch, he would beg for her to return. One day when he especially missed her was April 20 — a special day for heavy marijuana smokers like Way.

“April 20 is a weed holiday,” Way explained to the court. “We call it 4/20. Me and the plaintiff… we would smoke, chill. We would always talk about it as a holiday. Once 4/20 came around, she wasn’t there. I felt very emotional about that.”

In some of the text messages, the plaintiff seemed to accuse Way of physical violence toward her. For example, one message read: “Your going to keep hitting me if go I ready know.”

Way replied: “Stop texting me that 12 ASS shit.”

“Twelve is lingo for police,” Way explained. “I knew it wasn’t true. I didn’t know why she was texting me this stuff.” Way told her to delete the message from her phone. “Because I knew that even if the accusation is false, I didn’t want that being in my phone. I just did time in jail a year back. I was just saying delete that.”

The rapper, once again, denied hiring the plaintiff as his assistant, saying that she was more like a “blunt roller” who lived in his house from time to time — though he did admit to sometimes paying her.

“Even when she left, you were giving her money?” Ivie asked.

“Yes,” Way replied.

“It was unconditional,” Ivie suggested.

“Right,” said Way.

The three-week trial is expected to end on Thursday, when both sides will give their closing statements.

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