May 12, 2024
Diddy’s Legal Team Challenges Rape Allegation As False And Seeks Dismissal
Sean 'Diddy' Combs asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit that alleges that he raped a 17-year-old girl in a New York recording studio in 2003.
On May 10, Sean “Diddy” Combs is seeking the dismissal of a lawsuit that alleges that he and two co-defendants, Harve Pierre, former president of Combs’ Bad Boy Entertainment record label, and an unknown man, raped a 17-year-old girl in a New York recording studio in 2003. Combs’ lawyers argue that the claim was filed too late to be considered according to New York State law and want the claim to be dismissed with prejudice “to protect the Combs Defendants from further reputational injury and before more party and judicial resources are squandered.”
As The Associated Press reports, the motion from Combs’ lawyers represents the latest in a legal saga that has seen Combs become the subject of a criminal sex trafficking investigation as well as several lawsuits similar to the one filed by this anonymous party. According to the filing, Combs’ lawyers “categorically deny” the version of events presented by the accuser.
“Mr. Combs and his companies categorically deny Plaintiff’s decades-old tale against them, which has caused incalculable damage to their reputations and business standing before any evidence has been presented,” the filing says. “Plaintiff cannot allege what day or time of year the alleged incident occurred, but miraculously remembers other salacious details, despite her alleged incapacitated condition.”
One of the attorneys for the plaintiff, who currently remains anonymous but will have to reveal her identity if the case goes forward, told the AP that the motion is a desperate attempt from the Combs team to avoid accountability.
“At this point, no one should take anything ‘diddy’ or his lawyers say seriously.” Michael J. Willemin said in a statement, “Today’s motion is just a desperate attempt by Combs to avoid accountability for Ms. Doe’s allegations of gang rape and sexual assault. It won’t work.”
The lawsuit Combs is facing is part of a wave of lawsuits filed under two different laws designed to give victims of sexual assault a chance to file complaints after the statute of limitations has expired. The laws, New York State’s Adult Survivors Act and New York City’s Victims of Gender Motivated Violence Protection Law, both feature the suspension of the statute of limitations imposed on sexual assault. Combs’s team argues that under the state law’s provision, the suit was filed too late to be considered timely.
The lawsuit, filed in December 2023 and amended in March 2024, alleges that Combs, Pierre, and an unnamed man flew the then-11th-grade student from Detroit out on a private jet and took her to a recording studio. It also claims that the teenage girl was allegedly given drugs until her ability to consent was gone, at which point, the lawsuit alleges, the men took turns raping her.
The filing from Combs’ team also takes issue with a bolded trigger warning included in the suit, which they said was “irrelevant” and “calculated” to “focus attention on its salacious and depraved allegations.”
Combs’ latest round of legal troubles began when his former artist and girlfriend, Cassandra Ventura, professionally known as Cassie, filed a lawsuit alleging that Combs used a combination of drugs and physical abuse to control the singer. The suit, which was settled one day after it was filed, also contained an allegation that Combs forcibly entered her home in 2018 and raped her.
As BLACK ENTERPRISE reported, Ventura said in a statement that her lawsuit was for the benefit of other women who faced abuse and violence in their relationships. “After years in silence and darkness, I am finally ready to tell my story, and to speak up on behalf of myself and for the benefit of other women who face violence and abuse in their relationships.”
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