A California appeals court says Top Dawg Entertainment cannot be sued for “doxxing” two women after it revealed their names amid a sexual harassment and assault lawsuit against the powerhouse hip-hop indie label.
The women had accused Top Dawg of violating a new California anti-doxxing law when it called them out by name in a press release responding to their abuse lawsuit. And a Los Angeles trial judge ruled last year that those claims were strong enough to move ahead.
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But in a decision Thursday (Oct. 8), a state appeals court overturned that decision, ruling that the label’s two accusers — Linda Luna and Ayah Altayri — had never actually sought court approval to proceed in their case anonymously.
“We are, of course, sensitive to the nature of plaintiffs’ allegations, and they may have had a strong argument to remain anonymous,” the appeals court wrote. “But it was incumbent on plaintiffs to present their request to the trial court as soon as possible. Absent filing such a motion or a statutory basis, they simply had no right to remain anonymous while suing in court.”
The ruling means Luna and Altayri cannot sue Top Dawg for doxxing, but it does not end their broader case against the label, in which they accuse Top Dawg execs Brandon Tiffith and Anthony Tiffith, Jr. of a range of sexual impropriety. Attorneys for both sides did not immediately return requests for comment on Friday (Oct. 9).
Using the pseudonyms Jane Doe and Jane Roe, Luna and Altayri filed their case in December 2024 against Top Dawg, a top hip-hop label best known for helping to launch the careers of Kendrick Lamar, SZA and Doechii. Luna, a public relations staffer, claimed Brandon sexually battered her and Anthony sexually harassed her. Altayri, a friend of a Top Dawg artist, claimed she was assaulted and harassed while she lived in a company-owned house.
Two months after the case was filed, lawyers for Luna and Altayri issued a press release publicizing their allegations. During the resulting media coverage, Top Dawg issued a strongly-worded denial, calling the case a “shakedown” based on “fabricated” claims from women seeking “ten minutes of fame.” Along with those denials, it also included the women’s real names, which had been unknown at the time.
Lawyers for the accusers then quickly added a new claim to their lawsuit, alleging that the press statement violated the Doxxing Victims Recourse Act, a recently-enacted California statute aimed at preventing doxxing — a modern term for maliciously releasing someone’s identity on the internet.
But in Thursday’s decision, the appeals court said that suing in court under a pseudonym is the exception, not the rule, and accusers must show why they want to keep their names secret. The court said Luna and Altayri had never even asked, let alone proved it, before Top Dawg’s lawyers released their names in the press release.
“Plaintiffs… may proceed anonymously only after they file a motion with the trial court to find an overriding interest supports their use of pseudonyms,” the appeals court wrote. “Here, plaintiffs never filed such a motion, and TDE violated no court order or rule when it disclosed plaintiffs’ names.”
Because they had not sought such secret status, the court said Top Dawg was entitled to issue its press release under so-called fair report privilege — a legal doctrine that allows people to accurately discuss court proceedings without fear of being sued.
“That statement easily qualifies for the fair report privilege: Luna and Altayri are in fact the plaintiffs in this action,” the appeals court wrote. “The fact they unilaterally chose to use pseudonyms but had not yet requested permission to do so does not alter this fact.”
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