Top Dawg Wins Court Ruling Rejecting Doxxing Claims by Sexual Assault Accusers
Categoria: Musica
Two women claimed the label broke the law by revealing their names, but an appeals court says they "simply had no right to remain anonymous while suing in court.”
Por Billboard | 09/10/2026
A California appeals court says Top Dawg Entertainment cannot be sued for “doxxing” two women after it revealed their names amid a sexual harassment and assault lawsuit against the powerhouse hip-hop indie label. The women had accused Top Dawg of violating a new California anti-doxxing law when it called them out by name in a press release responding to their abuse lawsuit. And a Los Angeles trial judge ruled last year that those claims were strong enough to move ahead. Related Diddy’s Release Date: When Is It? And Why Does It Keep Changing? Hilary Duff to Receive Outstanding Pop Tour of the Year Award at 2026 Billboard Live Music Summit Judge Rules Woman Accused of Shooting at Rihanna & A$AP Rocky's Home Mentally Fit to Stand Trial But in a decision Thursday (Oct. 8), a state appeals court overturned that decision, ruling that the label’s two accusers — Linda Luna and Ayah Altayri — had never actually sought court approval to proceed in their case anonymously. “We are, of course, sensitive to the nature of plaintiffs’ allegations, and they may have had a strong argument to remain anonymous,” the appeals court wrote. “But it was incumbent on plaintiffs to present their request to the trial court as soon as possible. Absent filing such a motion or a statutory basis, they simply had no right to remain anonymous while suing in court.” The ruling means Luna and Altayri cannot sue Top Dawg for doxxing, but it does not end their broader case against the label, in which they accuse Top Dawg execs Brandon Tiffith and Anthony Tiffith, Jr. of a range of sexual impropriety. Attorneys for both sides did not immediately return requests for comment on Friday (Oct. 9). Using the pseudonyms Jane Doe and Jane Roe, Luna and Altayri filed their case in December 2024 against Top Dawg, a top hip-hop label best known for helping to launch the careers of Kendrick Lamar , SZA and Doechii . Luna, a public relations staffer, claimed Brandon sexually battered her and Anthony sexually harassed her. Altayri, a friend of a Top Dawg artist, claimed she was assaulted and harassed while she lived in a company-owned house. Two months after the case was filed, lawyers for Luna and Altayri issued a press release publicizing their allegations. During the resulting media coverage, Top Dawg issued a strongly-worded denial, calling the case a “shakedown” based on “fabricated” claims from women seeking “ten minutes of fame.” Along with those denials, it also included the women’s real names, which had been unknown at the time. Lawyers for the accusers then quickly added a new claim to their lawsuit, alleging that the press statement violated the Doxxing Victims Recourse Act, a recently-enacted California statute aimed at preventing doxxing — a modern term for maliciously releasing someone’s identity on the internet. But in Thursday’s decision, the appeals court said that suing in court under a pseudonym is the exception, not the rule, and accusers must show why