Sean “Diddy” Combs was accused in a lawsuit on Wednesday of gang-raping a 17-year-old girl in 2003, marking the fourth sexual assault allegation lodged against the producer in recent weeks.
The plaintiff, identified as Jane Doe, alleges that she was flown on a private jet from Michigan to Combs’ recording studio in New York, where she was raped by three people, including Combs and Harve Pierre, the president of Bad Boy Entertainment.
According to the suit, Combs and his associates plied her with “copious amounts” of drugs and alcohol. The suit alleges that Combs raped her over a bathroom sink while she went in and out of consciousness, and that Combs then watched as a third man also raped her.
The woman decided to come forward after reading about another lawsuit filed last month by Casandra Ventura, the R&B star known as Cassie, who accused Combs of raping her and beating her over the course of a decade. She also learned of another lawsuit in which Pierre was accused of grooming and sexually assaulting his former assistant.
“Seeing two other women bravely speak out against Mr. Combs and Mr. Pierre, respectively, gave Ms. Doe the confidence to tell her story as well,” the lawsuit states.
Combs quickly settled the lawsuit with Ventura, while maintaining his innocence. He has also been hit with two other sexual assault lawsuits in recent weeks, and has denied those allegations as well.
In a statement on Wednesday, Combs declared, “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.”
“For the last couple of weeks, I have sat silently and watched people try to assassinate my character, destroy my reputation and my legacy,” he said. “Sickening allegations have been made against me by individuals looking for a quick payday. Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth.”
Combs stepped aside as chairman of Revolt, the music-themed TV network he founded in 2013, in the wake of the first three allegations.
The newest lawsuit is filed under the New York City statute against gender-motivated violence. Like several other sexual assault statutes, it has recently been extended to allow suits that would otherwise be barred by the statute of limitations.
The plaintiff is represented by Douglas Wigdor.
“As alleged in the complaint, Defendants preyed on a vulnerable high school teenager as part of a sex trafficking scheme that involved plying her with drugs and alcohol and transporting her by private jet to New York City where she was gang raped by the three individual defendants at Mr. Combs’ studio,” Wigdor said in a statement. “The depravity of these abhorrent acts has, not surprisingly, scarred our client for life.”
The complaint, filed in federal court in New York, includes photographs of the plaintiff — whose face is blurred out — in Combs’ studio and sitting in Combs’ lap.
“As a result of being raped by Mr. Combs, Mr. Pierre and the Third Assailant, Ms. Doe suffered significant emotional distress and feels of shame that have plagued her life and personal relationships for 20 years,” the lawsuit alleges.
