Jury selection is scheduled to begin Feb. 24 in a civil case against Atlanta rapper Da Brat, who is accused of breaking a rum bottle over an Atlanta Falcons cheerleader's head during a 2007 Halloween party altercation.
Da Brat, whose real name is Shawntae Harris, faces civil allegations in Cobb County Superior Court that her actions caused Shayla Stevens “permanent facial scarring, neurological impairment and severe mental pain.”
Stevens’ attorneys also claim that her injuries also hindered her showbiz aspirations.
“Ms. Stevens suffered permanent damage to her face including possible neurological damage, forcing her to relinquish her duties with the Atlanta Falcons and to give up a budding acting career with an appearance on Tyler Perry’s ‘House of Payne’ television show,” Stevens’ attorneys said Wednesday in a statement.
The two were at a Halloween party at a club owned by Atlanta hip-hop impresario Jermaine Dupri when the incident occurred. A civil suit was reportedly filed two years later in 2009.
Da Brat, who had been living in both Atlanta and Chicago at the time, was the first female rapper to sell 1 million copies of an album, for 1994’s “Funkdafied,” on Dupri’s Atlanta-based So So Def imprint.
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