According to the World Bank, 35% of women, that is, 1 in 3 women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence and 736 million women have been subjected to some form of physical and/or sexual gender-based violence, at least once in their life. But what happens when the perpetrator is a famous or powerful person?
The spotlight shines bright on celebrities, but when it comes to accountability, especially in cases of gender-based violence, charges hardly ever stick and subsequently fade into the shadows. Celebrities often get away with crimes that would land ordinary citizens behind bars and continue to create patterns without consequences.
As we examine the cases that have made headlines, a troubling pattern emerges – one that demands closer scrutiny and sparks urgent questions about justice, equality, and what justice looks like for victims of these crimes.
The Chris Brown case
It is no news that Chris Brown has continuously been involved in various brawls and legal struggles since 2009 when he physically assaulted his then-girlfriend Rihanna.
It was reported that Brown and Rihanna had an argument that escalated into physical violence on Brown’s part. Rihanna was left with visible facial injuries and ended up hospitalised. Brown was subsequently charged with felony assault and making criminal threats. He pleaded guilty and accepted a plea deal of community labour, five years of probation and domestic violence counseling. However, Chris Brown’s domestic violence charges don’t end there.
In January 2016, Chris Brown was investigated by police after a woman alleged he beat her and stole her cell phone during a party at the Palms Casino Resort. In August of the same year, he was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon following a nine-hour standoff with police at his L.A. mansion after a woman called 911 claiming he had allegedly threatened her with a gun, according to the Los Angeles Times but charges were never filed.
A restraining order
Again in 2017, Chris Brown was ordered by a judge to stay away from ex-girlfriend Karrueche Tran who was granted a restraining order against the singer for five years. The model alleged in court that Brown texted her violent threats, such as, “I can get my money back, and I’m tired of playing games,” along with, “B—- I will beat the s— out of you” and “I promise you I will make your life hell.”
Tran also alleged Brown punched her in the stomach twice and pushed her down the stairs several years prior, but no police report was filed during that time.
The Jane Doe cases
Consequently, in 2018, Brown was sued by an unidentified woman for alleged sexual assault. She sued Brown and two others after she was allegedly held down and sexually assaulted in the singer’s home during a party in February 2017.
The woman — identified only as Jane Doe in court documents, obtained by The Blast — claimed the group used “drugs, alcohol, threats and the presence of guns to intimidate, coerce and force unwilling female guests to perform sexual acts.”
She sued the trio for sexual battery, battery and assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Brown’s lawyer denied the allegations, claiming Brown was being targeted. In April 2020, the case was dismissed and settled out of court.
Another woman identified as “Jane Doe” filed a $20 million lawsuit against Brown in January 2022, alleging that he drugged and raped her on December 30, 2020, on a yacht in Miami. The woman also detailed two subsequent encounters with Brown, including an instance in August 2021 when Brown became “irate” because she would not respond to his alleged sexual advances.
While not directly addressing the claims, the day following the lawsuit, Brown shared a message on his Instagram Story saying, “Whenever I’m releasing music or projects, ‘THEY’ try to pull some real bulls—.”
However, Radar Online reported in March 2022 that the accuser’s lawyers dropped her case after Miami Beach police shared months of text messages between Brown and Doe. According to NBC Palm Springs, the case was dismissed.
The controversial Diddy situation
The rap artist and record producer Combs, formerly known as Puff Daddy, P. Diddy is undergoing investigations for what started in 2023 as charges of sexual assault by four different women, including his ex, singer Cassie. Diddy could now be facing more than 100 new lawsuits after he was arrested by federal agents in New York.
The latest wave of legal filings was announced on October 1, The Los Angeles Times reported, as more than 100 people have planned to file lawsuits against Combs, alleging that he sexually abused and exploited them. Prosecutors allege that Combs and his associates threatened, abused and coerced women and others around him “to fulfill his sexual desires” which allegedly included forcing victims into engaging in recorded sexual activity which he referred to as “Freak Offs.”
Cassie’s years of torture
His charges began in November 2023, when the singer Cassie (real name Casandra Ventura) filed an explosive federal lawsuit against her former partner Sean “Diddy” Combs, claiming he had been physically and sexually abusive throughout their relationship. She alleged that Combs’s abuse ranged from beating and forcing her to have sex with other men to raping her at her home in 2018.
On May 17, surveillance footage obtained by CNN showed an incident that appeared to corroborate parts of Ventura’s original claim. The video from March 2016 showed Combs chasing her down the corridor of a Los Angeles hotel and proceeding to punch and kick her outside a set of elevators. Two days later, Combs released a video apologising for his actions in the video, calling his behaviour “inexcusable” and saying he “takes full responsibility for his actions in the video”. However, the lawsuit against Combs was settled for an undisclosed amount of money a day after Ventura filed it.
Following the release of CCTV footage showing Combs attacking Ventura, former model Crystal McKinney filed a lawsuit in May alleging Combs sexually assaulted her at his New York City recording studio in 2003.
Shortly after McKinney’s lawsuit, April Lampros, a former fashion student, came forward alleging Combs sexually assaulted her multiple times between 1995 and the early 2000s, following their initial meeting while she was a student.
Another woman, Joie Dickerson-Neal, filed a lawsuit in November 2023, accusing Combs of drugging, sexually assaulting, and secretly recording the assault without her consent in 1991, while she was a college student, according to NBC News, citing court documents.
While there is a long list of cases filed against Diddy, with substantial evidence for an immediate and undisputed conviction since February, the rapper is still awaiting trial and requesting bail.
D’banj’s hushed case
In 2020, a woman named Seyitan Babatayo accused Afrobeats star, D’banj of rape and subsequently claimed she was targeted by police and then held hostage by the singer.
Babatayo reported to the Nigerian police on 6 June, three days after the alleged assault, on Twitter that the music star D’banj, whose real name is Oladapo Oyebanjo, had forcibly gained access to her hotel room as she slept and raped her. However, she said that when D’banj denied the allegations, she became a target, and the police did not pursue the case.
Babatayo said, “I was isolated from my family, coerced, pressured and intimidated in person by D’banj and his team to retract all statements and to announce that my testimony was a publicity stunt.”
All her posts were deleted on her personal Twitter account, and in addition, a tweet with Dbanj’s photo was posted on her account alongside a reconciliatory caption, a move many suspected to be coerced.
“D’banj through his team has continued to harass me with incessant calls and boasting that he can buy off anyone within the justice system in Lagos,” said Babatayo.
In a statement since deleted on Instagram, before Babatayo’s arrest, D’banj denied the claims of rape as “false allegations and lies from the pit of hell”. In a subsequent post, he said, “Innocent until proven guilty, stop social media trial. Say no to rape.”
Should being a celebrity equal no conviction?
The numbers are staggering, and the disparity is alarming. Regular individuals hardly face severe consequences for similar crimes, and celebrities also seem to escape unscathed. This raises disturbing questions about the influence of wealth, power, and fame on our justice system.
R.Kelly’s delayed conviction
For more than two decades, singer, Robert Kelly faced allegations of sexual abuse from various women, but it wasn’t until 2022 that he was sentenced to 30 years after being found guilty of sex trafficking centering on the predatory pursuit of teenage girls, and one count of rackerteering in a New York court. Months later, he was convicted and sentenced to a subsequent 20 years in jail for child sexual abuse in a second trial in a Chicago court.
One would expect that the singer’s crime of marrying a minor, Aaliyah, at 15 with a fake ID while he was 27 would have been substantial enough to get a conviction but it didn’t. Rumours and allegations surrounding R.Kelly have been circulating since the beginning of his career in the 1990s. Still, he rode to fame, becoming a chart-topping sensation and a Grammy winner selling out arenas. He even collaborated with huge stars and became one of the biggest musical acts in the world.
For decades, the allegations against R. Kelly were consistently silenced and dismissed, victims’ voices silenced by his record label and managers driven by profit and a fanbase unwilling to confront the harsh reality. Fans, fascinated by his talent, also chose to ignore the disturbing claims, prioritising their love for him over the painful truth that he was a serial abuser.
It wasn’t until the release of the documentary “Surviving R. Kelly” in 2019, with confessions from survivors, R. Kelly’s co-workers and federal agents, that the singer was finally tried and convicted. This case proves just how much abusers who are celebrities are shielded by society.
Upholding the rule of law
Sexual assault harm individuals, and families, the same way it does irrespective of the perpetrator’social status, and allowing them pay little to no cost for their crimes is detrimental to the survivors because it invalidates their pain and exposes them to heightened scrutiny and harassment.
Championing justice for survivors of sexual assault is vital, and it is time to shatter the shield of celebrity privilege and ensure justice is served, regardless of status.
