300 Entertainment co-founder Kevin Liles has denied sexual assault allegations made by rapper Lady Luck (born Shanell Jones). Liles released a statement on Tuesday (May 27) claiming the former Def Jam artist engaged in a $30 million extortion plot against him earlier this month.
According to Liles, Jones and her legal team threatened to release a book and file a lawsuit filled with “utterly false and horrendous allegations” if he didn’t pay them $30 million. He continued to deny allegations that she was “groomed” after signing nearly 26 years ago with Def Jam.
Liles also listed threats of revealing that he allegedly exposed himself to her and forced Lady Luck to perform oral sex on him in his car. “None of this ever happened,” he wrote. “Her threatened allegations are totally false… Rather than pay her and her legal team, I am publicly addressing what I view to be an extortion attempt.”
The 57-year-old music mogul intends to “vigorously fight” any legal action Luck may take in the future against him. He went into depth about the plays he made to help her career, but it “never reached the heights she or Liles hoped for.”
Liles alleged that Luck turned to a “life of crime” and dealt with a history of “substance abuse” and “addiction.” He claims they were in contact as recently as last year when she reached out to Liles to get help setting up distribution for her new music.
Liles’ statement also cites alleged examples of Lady Luck showing love to him in various interviews over the years, as well as a birthday shout-out post to Instagram in 2020.
Lady Luck caught the attention of the hip-hop world after a series of fiery freestyles around the turn of the century at Hot 97, and signed with Def Jam (Liles served as president of Def Jam Recordings and executive vice president of the Island Def Jam Music Group from 1999 to 2004).
She was featured in Jay-Z’s 2000 tour documentary Backstage and appeared on EPMD’s “Symphony 2000” with Method Man and Redman, which reached No. 28 on the Hot Rap Songs chart in 1999.
Earlier this year, Liles was the subject of a sexual assault lawsuit. The victim, who filed under Jane Doe, claimed that Liles sexually assaulted her while serving as the president of Def Jam Records in 2002. He responded to the suit in April, asking for it to be thrown out, calling the “salacious” allegations “patently false.”
Find Kevin Liles’ full statement below.
