A celebrity makeup artist has filed a $25 million lawsuit against rapper Snoop Dogg, alleging he and several men in his entourage drugged and raped her two years ago. She is asking for $5 million on allegations of sexual assault, rape, negligence and emotional distress, and $20 million in punitive damages.
Makeup artist Kylie Bell applied Snoop Dogg’s makeup before four shows of Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2003, according to the lawsuit, which said she was drugged with spiked champagne after his final appearance. The suit also names the Jimmy Kimmel Live show (where the incident allegedly took place), The Walt Disney Co. and ABC, Inc.
Bell’s suit was filed after her out-of-court negotiations with Snoop and Disney broke down. Snoop’s lawyers had encouraged him to send the woman checks to quiet her allegations, and ABC had also reportedly paid Bell’s living expenses for a while, plus an unspecified amount of money before she went to court.
Snoop said he began regretting the payments to Bell, citing frustration over paying a woman for something that he never did. As a preemptive strike, Snoop filed an extortion lawsuit against the makeup artist, claiming Bell and her attorneys had demanded $5 million from him to stay quiet about the alleged assault.
A spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Police Department said she didn’t know whether the woman had filed a police report. According to Snoop Dogg’s complaint, the woman waited six months after the alleged incident to go to police. No charges were ever brought.