Detroit: Rapper Dank Demoss Settles Weight-Discrimination Lawsuit With Lyft After January Ride Denial

More Info: Bored Panda

Detroit rapper Dank Demoss, whose legal name is Dajua Blanding, has settled her weight-discrimination lawsuit against Lyft, with court records confirming the case was quietly resolved earlier this summer.

Blanding gained national attention in January after a Lyft driver refused to give her a ride, stating she was too heavy for his car; she recorded the encounter and shared it on social media, prompting widespread reaction. According to the driver, his tires could not handle the weight and he advised Blanding to order an Uber XL instead; he apologized and said there would be no fee. A viral post about the incident later asserted, “The driver was fired, she bought a van, and now rolls with her own chauffeur.” In contemporaneous comments to local media, Blanding said, “I’ve been in cars smaller than that,” and added, “I just want them to know that it hurt my feelings.”

The incident occurred as Blanding was en route to a Detroit Lions watch party and led to a lawsuit alleging discrimination. Represented by attorneys Zach Runyan and Jonathan Marko, Blanding filed the case against Lyft. In January, Marko said, “I knew that it was illegal, and I knew that it was wrong,” and added, “Denying someone a ride based on their weight is the same as doing so because of their race or religion.” Blanding’s legal team has now confirmed the case was resolved but declined to provide further details, citing confidentiality associated with the settlement.

Following the publicity, Bored Panda reported that Blanding shared a set of bikini photos that elicited mixed reactions. The images show her wearing a beige bikini, a curly vibrant pink wig, and matching round glasses, often posing with a small light-brown dog dressed in a matching pink outfit. While some praised the photos as empowering, others expressed health concerns; one commenter wrote, “I’m not trying to be mean, but how can you breathe and actually feel good at that size? Like, what if you have asthma and you’re that big?” Another said, “This isn’t great, but it’s definitely an interesting display of how durable the human body is. Like, how does the human body transform to even look like this and still function?” The lawsuit also drew support from people who viewed the case as significant for plus-size individuals, while some expressed sympathy for the driver’s concern about vehicle wear.

Detroit City Code, Chapter 27, prohibits discrimination based on weight and height in employment, housing, and public accommodations. Offering technical context, car and motorcycle technician Cristian Vergara told Bored Panda that “A Sedan usually supports around 800-850 lbs (385kg) of maximum extra load between passengers and cargo,” emphasizing that vehicle placards or manuals specify limits that vary by model, tires, and other factors. He noted that manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz provide guidelines to calculate combined occupant and cargo weights in accordance with the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, and he added that while users should avoid exceeding payload capacity, a single ride is unlikely to cause long-term damage.