Metro Boomin faced explosive testimony in a Los Angeles federal courtroom this week as a woman who accused him of sexual assault said a psychedelic therapy session led her to seek justice nearly eight years after the alleged incident.
Vanessa LeMaistre told jurors she realized the 2016 hotel room encounter with the Grammy-nominated Hip-Hop producer, whose real name is Leland Tyler Wayne, was the source of her long-standing trauma after taking Ayahuasca during a 2024 healing retreat in Peru.
“I recall being instructed from the medicine that this is the root of your issues for the past 10 years, this incident with the defendant,” LeMaistre testified, according to Legal Affairs and Trials. “This is the root of continual trauma and pain and suffering, and that I needed to address this, seek justice and contact lawyers.”
LeMaistre alleges she was “completely incapacitated” after consuming half a Xanax and a shot of alcohol provided by Metro in a Beverly Hills hotel room. She claims she regained consciousness as he was assaulting her.
Her lawsuit, filed by Wigdor LLP—the same firm that represented Cassie Ventura in her suit against Sean “Diddy” Combs—also references lyrics from Metro’s 2017 track “Rap Saved Me,” which she believes alludes to her.
The lyrics read: “She took a Xanny (Yeah), then she fainted (Yeah) | I’m from the gutter (Hey), ain’t no changing.”
Metro’s attorney, Lawrence Hinkle, argued that LeMaistre’s claims are financially motivated.
“We are here because she thought my client could solve her financial problems,” Hinkle said. “And so she made a claim that he sexually assaulted her, expecting that he would just write a check to make it all go away quickly and quietly.”
The defense has also brought in renowned memory expert Dr. Elizabeth Loftus to challenge the reliability of LeMaistre’s recollections. Loftus, who has testified in numerous high-profile cases, has said that trauma, therapy, and time can distort memory.
She noted LeMaistre added new “memories” to her complaint after the Ayahuasca session and attempted to alter medical records related to a November 2016 abortion.
“There’s no direct evidence of deliberate lying,” Loftus said in court documents, “but her efforts to change the records raise questions.”
LeMaistre denied any attempt to mislead. “I wanted what I know is true to be reflected,” she said.
LeMaistre’s attorney, Michael Willemin, pointed to text messages between the two after the alleged assault. When LeMaistre asked if Metro used protection, he replied that he did.
“That response is evidence of his consciousness of guilt,” Willemin said. “If Ms. LeMaistre was conscious, he would have said, ‘You remember. Of course, I did.’”
Metro, 32, rose to prominence producing tracks for Future, Drake, and The Weeknd. He earned three Grammy nominations and topped the Billboard 200 with his 2018 album Not All Heroes Wear Capes.
The trial is expected to wrap up by Friday, with Metro scheduled to testify in his own defense.