Soulja Boy’s Rap Sheet: Lawsuits, Arrests, & Chaos Outside The Booth

There was a time when Soulja Boy was the internet. Not part of it, but the blueprint. He was the ringtone king at the inception of the rise of going viral. The first rapper to truly game YouTube and to use social media as a launchpad as well as a diary. “Crank That” was a hit that helped shape Soulja Boy's digital footprint, and he rode it into the history books.

However, industry dominance doesn’t make you untouchable. Over time, the headlines shifted. The laughs remained, but they were muffled by lawsuits and abuse allegations. Then, there were fewer memes, more accusations and mugshots. The energy that once made him a disruptor online began surfacing offline, but this time, in courtrooms, police reports, and sworn testimony.

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Days ago, Soulja was arrested again, this time in Los Angeles, allegedly caught with a gun during a routine traffic stop just hours after turning 35. It marked yet another chapter in a long public record that includes everything from assault allegations to multi-million dollar judgments. Soulja Boy may have changed how artists move online, but offline, the cost has kept rising.

On the night of August 3, Soulja Boy was reportedly pulled over near Melrose Avenue during a routine traffic stop. It was just past 2:30 a.m. when LAPD officers claimed they spotted what looked like a weapon in the vehicle. Soulja, riding in the passenger seat, was arrested on the spot after a firearm was discovered, something he's legally barred from possessing as a convicted felon.

The timing was almost cinematic. Hours earlier, he’d been celebrating his birthday and basking in the attention of fans and followers who still see him as a pioneer. Sadly, the party didn’t last. By morning, he was behind bars facing new felony charges.

This arrest didn’t land in a vacuum. Soulja Boy has spent the last several years either defending himself in court or appearing in front of one. What could’ve been a routine traffic moment turned into another entry on a record already heavy with unresolved cases and long-standing restrictions. The law caught up. Again.

In April 2025, a Los Angeles jury found Soulja Boy liable in a civil case brought by a former assistant and romantic partner who accused him of sexual assault, battery, false imprisonment, and emotional abuse. The court awarded over $4 million in compensatory and punitive damages—a judgment that followed years of allegations the public often tried to laugh off or ignore.

According to court documents, the woman said the abuse began in 2019 and continued through 2020, marked by multiple instances of physical assault and threats. Soulja Boy denied all claims.

The verdict didn’t spark major headlines outside of fan circles, but the details in court filings were brutal. She said he weaponized her job against her, used access as control, and manipulated her isolation. There were allegations of missed pay and physical intimidation.

Soulja Boy’s ex-girlfriend, Kayla Myers, sued him for assault and kidnapping related to an alleged incident in 2019. A Los Angeles judge ruled in her favor, awarding Myers nearly $472,000 in damages for medical expenses, emotional distress, and punitive harm. The court also authorized seizure of several of Soulja Boy’s high-end assets, including a Bentley, Lamborghini, and luxury jewelry.

Further, Myers is just another in a list of people who have accused Soulja Boy of assault. The rapper's ex-girlfriend, Nia Riley, daughter to music icon Teddy Riley, has long stated that Soulja Boy was allegedly violent during their relationship. The two appeared on Love & Hip Hop Hollywood together, but later parted. In an interview, Riley accused Soulja of physical violence and claimed she suffered a miscarriage at the hands of his abuse.

And still, it barely disrupted the narrative around him.

Soulja Boy has been on probation for most of his adult life. That's not in theory, but legally. After a 2014 arrest for possession of a loaded firearm in Los Angeles, he was sentenced to probation. This is a run-in with the law that seemed to shadow nearly every subsequent legal issue. Yet, it didn’t stop the weapons allegations or the altercations.

Still, not every legal issue Soulja Boy faced made it to cable news. Some slipped through in YouTube comments or blogs before being forgotten, but together, they reveal a broader pattern of an unchecked ego. In 2009, he was arrested in Atlanta for obstruction after fleeing from police while shooting a music video without a permit. It was one of the first public indications that his online bravado might clash with real-world boundaries.

By the time 2016 rolled around, he was sued by a fellow rapper, Skrill Dilly, who alleged Soulja had threatened to have him killed in an post with a photo of an assault rifle and a thinly veiled caption. That same year, authorities conducted a weapons raid at his home and seized multiple firearms. He avoided jail but walked away with tighter legal restrictions and another warning shot from the court system.

In 2022, he was named in a class-action lawsuit connected to the SafeMoon cryptocurrency scheme. Alongside other celebrities like Lil Yachty and Jake Paul, he was accused of promoting a pump-and-dump crypto strategy that misled fans and investors. This may not have landed him in jail, but it shaped a persona built less on music and more on personal unraveling.

The thing about Soulja Boy is, the visibility worked. For years, the chaos was his social media conversation currency. Whether he was yelling on Instagram Live, trolling other rappers, or trending for outbursts that made no real sense, he kept people watching. The thing is, though, that underneath the antics has been a legal record that paints a much darker picture than memes ever did.

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