A woman who said the rapper Nelly raped her on his tour bus in a Seattle suburb last weekend is dropping her pursuit of criminal charges.
Lawyer Karen Koehler said in a statement on Friday that her client wanted to stop the investigation and would refuse to testify in court.
Koehler says the woman ‘wishes she had not called 911 because she believes the system is going to fail her.’
Dropped: A woman who said the rapper Nelly raped her on his tour bus in a Seattle suburb last weekend is dropping her pursuit of criminal charges.
Auburn police arrested Nelly, whose real name is Cornell Iral Haynes Jr, early Saturday in his tour bus at a Walmart.
He was booked into jail on suspicion of second-degree rape and released later that day.
He has not been charged with a crime.
Nelly’s attorney, Scott Rosenblum, has called the rape claim a ‘completely fabricated allegation.’
Trouble: Auburn police arrested Nelly, whose real name is Cornell Iral Haynes Jr, early Saturday in his tour bus at a Walmart.
In her statement, Koehler said we ‘do not live in a society where a 21-year-old college student can feel safe enough to pursue criminal charges against a celebrity for an alleged rape.’
She slammed the police who assured her their meeting with her would be kept a secret, who the issued a statement about the meeting .
‘Who will believe her. People are saying horrible things already. She cannot handle this. She is about to break. She wants to close the door. She wants this to end. She just cannot bear it.
The lawyer insisted she ‘never wanted notoriety, or ‘a dime from that man.’
In her statement, lawyer Karen Koehler said we ‘do not live in a society where a 21-year-old college student can feel safe enough to pursue criminal charges against a celebrity for an alleged rape.’
She concluded with a reference to the ongoing Harvey Weinstein sexual assault scandal.
‘One day, maybe our world will change and thirty women will not be needed to (eventually) speak out against a celebrity who has hurt them in order to be believed.’
Meanwhile, TMZ reported that the rapper’s lawyer has demanded a public apology from the accuser, and is pushing for legal retaliation.
Scott Rosenblum told the site her ‘reckless accusation, once investigated thoroughly, was exposed for what it was-a fabrication. A fabrication that has caused Nelly and his family to suffer emotionally and financially.’
Innocent: Upon his release, Nelly released a statement on Twitter branding the allegations false, and apologizing for ‘putting himself in the situation.’
‘I have not been charged with a crime’: He continued on Saturday afternoon with a follow-up tweet
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