Carmen Bryan is taking legal action against N.O.R.E, accusing the rapper of sexual assault back in 1999.
The entrepreneur, who shares a child with Nas, has filed a lawsuit against the Queens-born rapper, alleging that there was an instance in 1999 where he forced himself on her in a nightclub.
The 20-page complaint was filed yesterday (Wednesday September 9) in New York, and sees Bryan claim that she felt like she had to stay silent for over 25 years due to the “pervasive sexism, sexual objectification, and ‘misogynoir’” in the ‘90s hip-hop scene.
According to the filing (as per Rolling Stone), the alleged incident took place at a club in Manhattan in May 1999, when the rapper – real name Victor Santiago – was promoting his album ‘Melvin Flynt – Da Hustler’.
Bryan claims that he was “visibly intoxicated”, “committed an act of nonconsensual digital penetration” that night, and “physically overpowered” her when she allegedly pleaded with him to stop.
Afterwards, she claims in the filing, she left the club crying, but was followed by the rapper who allegedly made crude comments and repeated the phrase “Don’t you know who I am?”. From there, he recognised Bryan as the partner of Nas and apologised – reportedly telling her that he “didn’t know” it was her because she was “always doing something different with [her] hair”.
N.O.R.E. is being accused of sexual assault by Carmen Bryan, who claims the Queens-born rapper forced himself on her at a packed nightclub in 1999.
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— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) September 9, 2026
Byran claims that he apologised to her again at a joint Father’s Day event and birthday party weeks later.
“Santiago’s conduct constituted nonconsensual sexual contact, offensive touching, assault, battery, sexual assault, and gender-motivated violence,” the filing reads.
“No woman signs up to be assaulted. The assertion that an assault is excusable—or simply did not happen—because a perpetrator failed to recognise his victim strips women of their fundamental humanity,” it added. “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.”
In the lawsuit, Bryan explains that she did not want to pursue legal action at first as she was worried about how things could escalate. She then changed her mind, however, when learning of the sex trafficking lawsuit filed against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in 2023, which “triggered Ms. Bryan’s own traumatic memories of Santiago’s assault”.
Her legal team alleges that Bryan told N.O.R.E about her plans to file a lawsuit against him in March and attempted to settle the matter outside of court. They then claimed that the rapper then denied knowing her – leading to her taking the claims to court.
She is seeking compensatory damages, and damages for emotional distress and mental anguish under the New York City Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act.
N.O.R.E has not publicly spoken about the accusations, nor did he respond to Rolling Stone’s request for comment.
For more help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.
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