Author Topic: Benzino, Mays, and The Source has to pay up. Verdict in (Read 88 times)

Drudge · « **on:** October 24, 2006, 07:40:46 AM »

Kim Osorio, former editor-in-chief of The Source magazine, walked out of the Manhattan district court yesterday a very satisfied woman.

The nine-day trial ended yesterday with a $15.5 mil win that took the jury only four hours to award.

"This is a victory for women in hip-hop," Osorio told SOHH.com exclusively. "I won... I stood up and I won."

Osorio was ousted from the "bible of hip-hop" in 2005 for what the magazine's two founders, Dave Mays and Raymond "Benzino" Scott, called "a poor performance." The jury thought different.

The six men and two women came back to Judge Jed S. Rakoff after two hours of deliberation and said "we are at an empasse" and asked for testimony from Benzino and Kim pertaining to the sexual harassment testimony. Rakoff sent them back to deliberate.

The only two women on the jury were visibly upset when the judge sent them back in.

Osorio was awarded $4 million for retaliation from The Source, $4 million for retaliation from Mays, $4 million for retaliation from Benzino and $3.5 million for defamation from Benzino.

The nine-day trial played out like a soap opera in the courtroom with dramatic testimony of porn-watching, illicit propositions, and illegal drug-use.

"I feel like I've been vindicated," Osorio said. "I hope that people understand the significance of the verdict in this case. I stood up against them and I encourage others to do the same."

The Source, Mays and Benzino will appeal.