US rapper Nelly has spoken out after a woman accusing him of sexual assault in Southend slammed Essex Police for treating her as a suspect.

The singer is accused of sexually assaulting a fan following his performance at Cliffs Pavilion, Southend, in 2017.

A lawyer acting for the woman later wrote to the force, listing a series of complaints she has about the investigation, including that officers were being intimidated by the rapper’s legal team.

Now Nelly, 44, has said in a statement to TMZ that he believes the lawyer is motivated by financial and personal gain.

He said: “Not only is this attorney continuously damaging my reputation to forge ahead with civil suits to get money, she is doing a severe disservice to women and true victims that need a safe system to report assaults against them.”