14 DAY TRIAL // Rapper Da Brat was ordered yesterday to pay $6.4 million (€4.6 million) in damages to a former Atlanta Falcons cheerleader turned hostess she attacked in 2007, smashing a bottle of rum in her face. However, Da Brat says, Stevens would better get in line because she can’t “afford” to pay this kind of money.
Not right now and not very soon, she tells TMZ Live, as the video below can confirm.
The star has somewhat of a reputation for her violent temper but, in this new interview – her first since the verdict –, she says she wasn’t allowed to have her side of the story told in court. We must mention that, at the time the judge found her liable for this huge payment, she’d already served over 3 years behind bars after pleading guilty to aggravated assault.
As Da Brat sees it, that and the fact that she’d admitted her guilt in court and that she had learned her lesson should have been enough to make the judge in the civil lawsuit Stevens filed against her in 2008 rule that she shouldn’t have to pay this kind of money.
She can’t afford to pay this ridiculous amount either way, she laughs. In fact, her exact words are “Hell no!” when she’s asked directly if she’s going to pay and if she considers the verdict a fair one. The rapper thinks her victim should be awarded “some” compensation for the injuries she sustained in the attack, but $6.4 million (€4.6 million) is excessive.
Speaking of injuries, the video below also includes a few photos of the lacerations Stevens sustained in the attack. *Please note that discretion is recommended before pressing play because of the graphic nature of these photos.
And then there’s this: the rapper insists that the judge who awarded the victim this kind of money wasn’t presented with the entire picture of the attack in court. Da Brat says that she has witnesses who can vouch for her and for how “things happened” before she hit Stevens in the head with the bottle.
She also says that Stevens is an aspiring actress and should get a Golden Globe for her “performance” in court. Overall, Da Brat seems amused by the verdict and by the prospect of having to pay this kind of money she claims she doesn’t have, so either she’s confident in an appeal or she really doesn’t care.
Of the money she was ordered to pay in compensation, $2.7 million (€1.9 million) is added punishment, while $3.7 million (€2.7 million) is for Stevens’ medical expenses and loss of earnings.