Photo: hollywoodlife
So disturbing.
By Micki Spollen — Written on Jul 12, 2018
Many of you may know Charlamagne Tha God from his position as a DJ on the popular The Breakfast Club radio talk show. Others might recognize him from MTV’s Ridiculousness, or as a "rapper" and best-selling author.
Unfortunately, one woman knows Charlamagne Tha God as her rapist.
17 years after the alleged rape took place, Jessica Reid has come forward with her story in hopes of reopening her case against the rapper. Reid told Hollywood Life that the alleged incident took place in June 2001 at a house party.
According to police reports, Charlamagne (real name Lenard Larry McKelvey) was eventually arrested for the crime. However, despite the charge on his record, Charlamagne has gone on to have a successful career while Reid was left to deal with the aftermath — a trend the #MeToo movement has proved is all too common. “My life has not been the same. I don’t know if it ever will," Reid told Hollywood Life.
So who is Jessica Reid? Here are the details about the disturbing incident and why Reid is bringing it back into the spotlight now.
1. Charlamagne allegedly raped Reid when she was 15 and he was 22
Reid told Hollywood Life that they had met before the alleged rape through a mutual friend. According to Reid, Charlamagne had a crush on her, but the feelings weren’t reciprocated so he agreed to “just be friends.”
According to Reid, the two hung out a couple times before the alleged incident, and Charlamagne had even met her mom. “He definitely knew how old I was. I was still in high school,” Reid said. “He told me he was 20-years-old.”
In a 2013 interview with DJ Akademiks, however, Charlamagne Tha God claimed that he didn’t really know who Reid was, though he did say that he was 20 years old at the time of the alleged incident.
2. She claims he may have spiked her drink
Reid explained to Hollywood Life that when she and her friend arrived at the party, they both took drinks from Charlamagne that reportedly “tasted like soda.” Shortly after, they both started feeling sick. “I was dizzy and I didn’t feel like myself,” Reid recounted. “It was the weirdest thing in the world. I was laying there and I couldn’t move. I could see and hear everything but I could not control my body,” as Charlamagne and his friends reportedly laughed at her.
3. Charlamagne and his friends allegedly performed sexual acts on her
According to Reid, Charlamagne ordered his friends to “take her upstairs,” where they reportedly “did not penetrate” but “violated” her in the bathroom, where they left her until another man took her to a bedroom where he “started to rub his penis” on her body. It was after that that she says Charlamagne entered the room and had sex and oral sex with her as she laid there unable to move.
According to Hollywood Life, police reports mentioned the state of the room where the alleged rape took place: “One bed was in complete disarray, with the sheets completely messed up and in a pile in the middle of the bed. A silver bracelet was laying next to the bed… which was later said to be Reid's.”
4. Police arrested Charlamagne in 2001
The Blast reported that police arrested Charlamagne in July 2001, charging him with criminal sexual conduct with a minor in the 2nd degree. Specifically, documents alleged the entertainer “willfully, unlawfully, and feloniously engage in penile/vaginal intercourse with a fifteen-year-old female child.”
Reid did not testify during the trial. “I was under the impression that even if I didn’t speak, the state would represent me,” she told Hollywood Life, claiming she now wishes she did. “It would’ve been a whole different outcome.” Eventually, Charlamagne pled guilty to a lesser charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and sentenced to three years probation.
5. Charlamagne Tha God has denied the rape charges
In his interview with DJ Akademiks, Charlamagne gave his version of the story. “I had a party. I had all these chicks at a party,” he said, claiming he invited one woman in particular who was always around his friend — Reid. “She got drunk, high, whatever whatever. Something happened in the room with a couple of my dudes. I’m asking them did they mess with the chick...after she pressed charges and they was like ‘no.’”
According to Charlamagne, his friends claimed the girl was “buggin’ out.” He says he was not there at the time the alleged incident happened, but was eventually charged with the crime. “I didn’t do it,” the rapper told DJ Akademiks.
Reid said Charlamagne’s description of the night is a flat out lie. “When Charlamagne did the interview with DJ Akademiks he said he was throwing a party for his cousin’s graduation (from college), but he told me it was his birthday party and that’s the only reason I went because I wasn’t going to go at first,” recalls Jessica, who brought along her brother’s fiancee at the time, Malika, 18. “He used to call me his little sister and he convinced me because it was his birthday and said, ‘You have to come.’ So the story about his cousin is bogus. That was a lie.”
6. Reid wants the case reopened
17 years later after the alleged rape took place, Reid is hoping to bring the case back to trial. “We’re trying to figure out how he was even able to take a plea,” Jessica told Hollywood Life. “My mother has been in contact with the DA’s office to try and figure this out.” According to The Blast, she’s in the process of seeking legal counsel.
According to TMZ, Charlamagne has acquired legal representation of his own, hiring Marty Singer. "More than seventeen years ago, Charlamagne was accused of a sexual assault," Singer told TMZ. "He never had sexual relations or any physical contact with the accuser and even provided DNA to prove it."
Micki Spollen is a YourTango editor, writer, and traveler. Follow her on Instagram and keep up with her travels on her website.