Paris. Lomepal accused of rape: investigation dismissed

The preliminary investigation into rape targeting the rapper from the 13th arrondissement of Paris, Lomepal, was closed on Friday January 24, 2025 by the Paris prosecutor's office.

“I’m taking my life back”

Three women had filed a complaint against the 33-year-old French rap phenomenon.
He announced this ranking on his social networks, repeating “to be innocent”. “I’m getting my life back,” he wrote.

The investigations were launched after the filing in 2020 of a complaint from an acquaintance of the rapper, who accused him of having raped her in 2017 in New York. A second woman filed a complaint at the end of 2023, denouncing acts of rape in 2018 in France.

The latter's counsel, Sacha Ghozlan, told AFP on Friday consider filing a new complaintthis time with the constitution of a civil party, in order to relaunch the investigations by obtaining referral to an investigating judge.

“The prosecution does not say that the offense did not take place, but that the facts are old and there are not enough elements to refer to a trial court,” he underlined.

“The whole music industry knows about it”

Lomepal, whose real name is Antoine Valentinelli, was confronted by the two complainants at the end of February 2024, in police custody. A third woman then filed a complaint in May 2024 and her accusations were added to the preliminary investigation.

The affair began to take on a certain magnitude in the summer of 2023. On July 19, the editor-in-chief of the online media Joly Môme, Jenna Boulmedais, revealed on Instagram that for two years she had been hearing “testimonies from women who have suffered inappropriate and unwanted gestures » from Lomepal.

“The whole music industry knows about it. This silence is literally no longer possible. Seeing his name headlining many festivals as well,” she said.
Recognized for his style and his sentimental lyrics which have long earned him the label of “pink rap”, Lomepal has carved his furrow in a very diverse rap scene, collaborating with rap heavyweights like Nekfeu, Orelsan and Romeo Elvis.

In 2017, his first album, “Flip”, made him a star. A year later came “Jeannine”, a melancholy tribute to her grandmother. His latest, “Bad Order”, was released in 2022.
On the criminal side, the world of French rap has recently been marked by several cases of sexual violence, with strong media coverage.

With AFP

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