N.O.R.E. Sued for Allegedly Sexually Assaulting Carmen Bryan

N.O.R.E. has reportedly been sued for allegedly sexually assaulting Carmen Bryan, the mother of Nas’ daughter, 27 years ago.

On Wednesday (Sept. 9), Bryan’s attorneys filed a 20-page complaint against the rapper-podcaster, real name Victor Santiago, in New York, Rolling Stone reports. Bryan claims N.O.R.E. forced himself upon her at a packed New York nightclub in May of 1999 when he was promoting his album Melvin Flint – Da Hustler.

The suit claims an intoxicated N.O.R.E. “committed an act of nonconsensual digital penetration” on Bryan despite her pleas for him to stop, and he had to be pulled off of her by other clubgoers. Bryan claims she fled the club and was followed by N.O.R.E., who continued to make crude comments until he realized that she was Nas’ child’s mother and apologized. Bryan says N.O.R.E. apologized again weeks later at a Father’s Day event and birthday party for Nas’ daughter.

Bryan claims she mostly stayed silent about the incident, but told Jay-Z, with whom she had an on-and-off relationship, and asked him not to get involved. Cassie Ventura’s 2023 lawsuit against Diddy prompted Bryan to take legal action. According to the suit, she told N.O.R.E. about the forthcoming lawsuit in March in the hopes of settling the matter privately, but he denied knowing her.

In a statement provided to Rolling Stone, Bryan’s attorney Marjorie Mesidor said: “No woman signs up to be assaulted. The assertion that an assault is excusable—or simply did not happen—because a perpetrator failed to recognize his victim strips women of their fundamental humanity. Ms. Bryan is coming forward not only to demand accountability for the lasting trauma and public humiliation inflicted upon her, but to challenge the culture of entitlement that treats women’s bodies as collateral damage.”

Bryan is seeking compensatory damages in addition to damages for emotional distress and mental anguish.

XXL has reached out to N.O.R.E. for comment.