On Tuesday, a different woman filed a lawsuit against Sean “Diddy” Combs, claiming that in 2001, at his New York recording studio, the music mogul and his head of security had sexually assaulted her and videotaped it.Another woman sued Sean “Diddy” Combs on Tuesday, alleging that the music mogul and his head of security raped her and recorded it on video at his New York recording studio in 2001.
One week after Combs was taken into custody and a federal sex trafficking indictment against him was made public, the most recent of several lawsuits targeting him was filed in federal court in New York.The lawsuit filed in federal court in New York, the latest of several similar suits against Combs, comes a week after he was arrested and a federal sex trafficking indictment against him was unsealed.
Thalia Graves claims that in the summer of 2001, while she was twenty-five and dating a Combs executive, Combs and Joseph Sherman allegedly enticed her to a meeting at Bad Boy Recording Studios. She said they picked her up in an SUV and during the ride gave her a drink “likely laced with a drug.”
The lawsuit claims that after losing consciousness, Graves awoke to find herself confined to Combs’ office and the studio lounge. The two men raped her, slapped her, slammed her head against a pool table, and ignored her screams and cries for help, the lawsuit alleges.
Following the incident, Graves claimed to have experienced “flashbacks, nightmares, and intrusive thoughts” during a press conference in Los Angeles alongside Gloria Allred, one of her attorneys.
While reading from a statement, Graves sobbed. “It has been hard for me to trust others to form healthy relationships or even feel safe in my own skin.”
According to her, it is “a pain that leaves emotional scars that may never fully heal and reaches into your very core of who you are.”
Combs remains jailed without bail in New York on federal charges alleging that he ran a vast network that facilitated sexual crimes and committed shocking acts of violence, using blackmail and other tactics to protect Combs and those close to him.
He pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. His attorney said he is innocent and will fight to clear his name. His representatives did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the latest lawsuit. There was no immediate indication from the lawsuit or from Combs’ representatives whether Sherman had a separate attorney who could comment on the allegations.
Graves’ lawsuit also alleges that late last year, after Combs’ former singing protege and girlfriend Cassie filed a lawsuit that began the surge of allegations against him, Graves learned through her former boyfriend that Combs had recorded her rape, shown it to others, and sold it as pornography.
The Associated Press does not typically identify people who claim to have been sexually abused, unless they come forward publicly, as Graves and Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, have.The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused, unless they come forward publicly as Graves and Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, have done.
According to Graves’ lawsuit, Combs and Sherman contacted her several times in the years following the assault, threatening her with repercussions if she told anyone about what had happened. She was in a divorce and custody fight at the time and feared losing her young son if she revealed anything, the suit says.
Graves stated at the news conference that the associated guilt and shame “often made me feel worthless, isolated, and sometimes responsible for what happened to me.”
The lawsuit seeks damages, which will be determined at trial, as well as the accounting and destruction of all video copies.
Records,It also names as defendants several companies owned by Combs, the three-time Grammy winner and founder of Bad Boy Records, who was among the most influential hip-hop producers and executives of the past three decades.
