Sean “Diddy” Combs has been accused of raping a woman in a New York City recording studio with a guard at the time and recording the alleged assault over 20 years ago in a lawsuit filed Tuesday.
The litigation comes about a week after Combs, 54, was indicted on federal charges alleging that he used the business empire as a criminal enterprise, with prosecutors who sexually and physically abuse women through so-called “freak offs.” She faces charges including sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation for prostitution.
They was denied bail a second time after pleading not guilty in federal court in New York City.
The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, accuses him of raping Thalia Graves in 2001, when she was 25 and dating one of his employees. CBS News Los Angeles does not usually identify potential victims of sexual assault but Graves identified herself publicly Tuesday, speaking to reporters at a news conference in LA Tuesday alongside her attorney, Gloria Allred.
In a court filing, the lawsuit alleges that Combs and another person, described in the suit as a bodyguard and head of security at the time, allegedly gave him a drink “probably mixed with a drug that eventually caused him to lose consciousness” in Bad. Boy Recording Studio.
“She woke up to find herself bound and restrained,” the lawsuit says, saying Combs “mercilessly raped her.”
Two attorneys for Combs did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
Shareif Ziyadat/Getty Images for Sean “Diddy” Combs)
According to the lawsuit, Graves first learned that the assault had been videotaped on Nov. 27, 2023, and that Combs and another person showed the video to several other people — “seeking to humiliate and demean” both sides. he and his girlfriend. In the same month, Combs had reach a settlement agreement with singer Cassie Ventura.
This comes just a day after Ventura filed a lawsuit accusing him of raping and physically abusing her over the years. At the time, Combs denied the allegations through an attorney.
“Just so we’re clear, the decision to settle the lawsuit, especially in 2023, is not an admission of wrongdoing,” Ben Brafman, an attorney for Combs, said in a statement to CBS News.
When he spoke to reporters Tuesday, Graves said the attack — and the recording — had left him “emotionally upset” as he deals with conditions including PTSD, depression and anxiety.
“It’s a pain that reaches to the very core of who you are,” she said with tears. “Being blamed, questioned and threatened often made me feel useless, isolated and sometimes responsible for what happened to me.”
The lawsuit alleges he has faced numerous threats to keep him quiet over the years.
“For decades, she remained silent and did not report these crimes for fear that the Defendants would use their power to destroy her life, as they have repeatedly, clearly threatened to do,” the lawsuit said, adding that she “still live in fear of the Defendant.”
“On information and belief, the Defendant continued to show rape videos to others for several years and to date and/or sell the videos as pornography,” the lawsuit later said.
When Combs was indicted last week, federal prosecutors said the crimes began in 2008 and were part of a wider criminal enterprise involving other people.
“The indictment alleges that between at least 2008 and the present, Combs abused, threatened and coerced the victim into fulfilling his sexual desires, protecting his reputation and concealing his actions,” US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams told reporters last week. . “As alleged in the indictment, in order to commit this act, Sean Combs led and participated in a racketeering conspiracy that used the business empire he controlled to carry out criminal activities.”
Williams said that the federal agent raided Combs’ homes in Los Angeles and Miami earlier this year and found firearms, ammunition and other evidence. Combs has been accused of crimes such as trafficking, kidnapping and obstruction of justice.
Federal prosecutors allege he threatened the victims and accused him of using a recording of the alleged assault as “guarantee”.
“He used embarrassing and sensitive recordings made of ‘freak offs’ as a guarantee to his victims, and the indictment alleges that he controlled the victims in a number of ways, including giving them drugs, giving them away and threatening to take them away. Financial support or housing, by promising career opportunities, by monitoring the space and even dictating physical appearance,” Williams said.
