A woman has sued 300 Entertainment CEO Kevin Liles for allegedly harassing and raping her while the two worked together at Def Jam in the early 2000s, according to documents filed in New York Supreme Court on Wednesday (Feb. 26).
Filed by attorneys Lucas Franken and Mallory Allen at New York firm Pfau Cochran Vertetis, the suit claims that Liles began sexually harassing the woman — identified as Jane Doe in the complaint — beginning in 2000, shortly after she started working as the executive assistant to Def Jam’s then-GM. During this time, she alleges that Liles — who was then serving as president of the storied hip-hop label — “pressed his body” against her breasts, grabbed her buttocks and made “sexually inappropriate comments and advances towards her on numerous occasions, “which she rebuffed.”
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The woman claims this behavior ultimately culminated in Liles sexually assaulting and raping her.
Also named as defendants are Def Jam and its corporate parent Universal Music Group, which the woman accuses of “permitting, aiding, abetting, conspiring, ratifying and enabling” Liles’ harassment and rape. The suit alleges that the companies “knew or should have known of” Liles’ alleged propensity for sexual abuse “motivated by gender animus” and are liable for “ignoring, dismissing, and failing to take any action” against him, including by reporting him to the police. It also claims that the companies “permitted” Liles “to entrap their employees in locations that enabled his sexual abuse, assault and rape.”
As a result of the alleged harassment and assault, the woman says she suffered “severe emotional and psychological distress and personal physical injury…including severe mental anguish, humiliation, and emotional and physical distress.”
The lawsuit was brought under the Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law in New York, which allows survivors of gender-motivated violence whose claims were previously time-barred to file suit against their alleged abusers.
The woman is asking for compensatory and punitive damages, among other relief.
Liles served as president of Def Jam Recordings in the late 1990s and early 2000s before being named executive vp at Warner Music Group. He went on to found the management firm KWL Enterprises in 2009 and, later, record label 300 Entertainment alongside Lyor Cohen, Roger Gold and Todd Moscowitz in 2012. Following 300’s acquisition by Warner Music Group in 2022, he assumed the role of chairman/CEO at 300 Elektra Entertainment. He stepped down from that role in September.
Representatives for Universal Music Group, Def Jam and Liles did not immediately respond to requests for comment.