Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs faces third sexual assault lawsuit
New lawsuit comes the same day rapper and music mogul was accused by another woman of sexually assaulting her while she was a college student
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Sean “Diddy” Combs has been hit with a third sexual assault lawsuit, hours after he was accused by another woman of sexually assaulting her while she was a college student in the 1990s.
Both of the suits were filed on Thursday (23 November), the day before the New York Adult Survivor’s Act (ASA) – a law permitting victims of sexual abuse a one-year window to file civil action regardless of the statute of limitations – expired on Friday (24 November).
The most recent lawsuit was filed by an unnamed woman who identified herself under the pseudonym Jane Doe. In her lawsuit, seen by People, she accused Combs, 54, and R&B singer Aaron Hall, 59, of sexually assaulting her and a friend, then beating her several days later.
Combs has denied the allegations through a representative, calling them fabrications “filed at the last minute”.
“This is nothing but a money grab. Because of Mr Combs’ fame and success, he is an easy target for anonymous accusers who lie without conscience or consequence for financial benefit,” his representative shared in a statement with The Independent. “The New York Legislature surely did not intend or expect the Adult Survivors Act to be exploited by scammers. The public should be skeptical and not rush to accept these bogus allegations.”
Jane Doe alleged that she and her roommate returned to Hall’s home with him and Combs after a music industry event in 1990 or 1991. The accuser said she was coerced into allegedly having sex with Combs. Afterwards, as she was getting dressed, “Hall barged into the room, pinned her down and forced Jane Doe to have sex with him,” the suit states.
When the victim later spoke to her friend, who is also not named, she learnt that her friend “had been forced to have sex with Combs and Hall in another room,” according to the suit. “Upon information and belief, when Combs finished with Jane Doe, he and Hall switched, and they commenced assaulting Jane Doe’s friend,” the suit states.
A few days later, an “irate” Combs allegedly showed up at the home of the two women in an attempt to stop them from speaking out about the abuse. He then choked the woman identified as Jane Doe until she passed out, the suit states.
Hall’s representative did not respond to the Associated Press’s request for comment.
Tyrone Blackburn, an attorney for the unnamed accuser, said his client was in the process of securing medical documents and witness statements to support her suit, which was filed late Thursday “in an effort to preserve the statute of limitations”.
This third lawsuit comes the same day Joi Dickerson accused Combs of sexually assaulting her when she was a 19-year-old student at Syracuse University. According to the filing, Dickerson agreed to meet Combs at a restaurant in Harlem in 1991. After their date, Combs “intentionally drugged” her, then brought her home and sexually assaulted her, the filing says.
Without her knowledge, Combs videotaped the assault and later shared it with several friends in the music industry, the suit alleges. The public exposure sent Dickerson into a “tailspin,” contributing to severe depression that landed her in the hospital and forced her to drop out of college.
In a statement which referred to the ASA, shared with The Independent, a spokesperson for Combs said: “This last-minute lawsuit is an example of how a well-intentioned law can be turned on its head.
“Ms Dickerson’s 32-year-old story is made up and not credible. Mr Combs never assaulted her, and she implicates companies that did not exist. This is purely a money grab and nothing more.”
In the years after the alleged assaults, Combs would go on to found his own label, Bad Boys Records, helping to produce Mary J Blige and Biggie Smalls on his way to becoming one of the most influential hip-hop producers and executives in the genre’s history.
The pair of lawsuits follow a separate set of explosive allegations made last week by Combs’s ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, who said that Combs subjected her to a pattern of abuse during their yearslong relationship, which began in 2005 when she was 19 and he was 37.
Among the allegations, R&B singer Ventura said Combs plied her with drugs, subjected her to “savage” beatings, and forced her to have sex with male prostitutes while he masturbated and filmed them. When she tried to end the relationship in 2018, Combs raped her, she alleged.
The lawsuit was settled one day after it was filed for an undisclosed sum.
In a statement shared by her lawyers, Ventura said she wanted to resolve this matter “on terms that I have some level of control”.
Combs said: “We have decided to resolve this matter amicably. I wish Cassie and her family all the best. Love.”
Additional reporting by Associated Press
If you have been raped or sexually assaulted, you can contact your nearest Rape Crisis organisation for specialist, independent and confidential support. For more information, visit their website here.