Sean “Diddy” Combs faces his fourth sexual misconduct lawsuit in less than one month.
The Bad Boy Entertainment CEO was accused most recently by a woman who says she was raped by him and others as a teenager. The plaintiff in the civil case, who filed the suit under the pseudonym Jane Doe, alleges that Combs, his longtime producing partner Harve Pierre and a third man sex trafficked and gang raped her in 2003 when she was a 17-year-old high school junior.
The “I’ll Be Missing You” rapper, 54, fiercely denied the new allegations, saying in a statement, “I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth.”
The new allegation follows the bombshell lawsuit against him by his ex, singer Cassie, in which she claimed she was trapped in a “cycle of abuse, violence and sex trafficking,” including being raped in 2018. Diddy settled that lawsuit, but there are two others — in addition to the new one — pending.
Here is the timeline of the sexual assault accusations and lawsuits against the singer/producer/mogul:
Nov. 16
Cassie (real name: Casandra Ventura), who had an on-off relationship with Combs between 2007 and 2018, filed an explosive civil lawsuit in federal district court in Manhattan, accusing him of subjecting her to years of abuse during their relationship. She said he controlled and sexually trafficked her. She said he gave her drugs and beat her. She said he forced her to have sex with other men while he filmed the encounters. She said he raped her at her home, after forcing his way in, in 2018. The lawsuit was filed under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, which ran from Nov. 24, 2022, to Nov. 24, 2023, and allowed people who say they experienced sexual assault to take legal action even though the statute of limitations has expired.
An attorney for Combs, who also goes by the nicknames Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, said in a statement that his client had been “subjected to Ms. Ventura’s persistent demand of $30 million, under the threat of writing a damaging book about their relationship, which was unequivocally rejected as blatant blackmail” and was “seeking a pay day” through the lawsuit, described as “baseless” and filled with “outrageous lies.”
Nov. 17
In a surprise move, the exes announced that the shocking lawsuit had been settled. Cassie said in a statement, “I have decided to resolve this matter amicably on terms that I have some level of control. I want to thank my family, fans and lawyers for their unwavering support.” In his own statement, Combs said, “We have decided to resolve this matter amicably. I wish Cassie and her family all the best.”
Nov. 21
The civil lawsuit, which was filed by a Jane Doe in New York Supreme Court, accused Pierre, a former president of Combs’s Bad Boy Entertainment and Bad Boy Records, of grooming an unnamed assistant between 2016 and 2017, leading to sexual assault on multiple occasions and sexual harassment. The assistant, who also filed under N.Y.’s Adult Survivors Act, named Bad Boy Entertainment, Bad Boy Records and Combs Enterprises as co-defendants, claiming negligence and gender violence and saying they should have known the accused was “unfit to be in a position of authority.” A company spokesperson said the alleged abuse wasn’t reported at the time and that they are “investigating.”
Nov. 23
Joi Dickerson-Neal filed a civil lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court accusing the performer of drugging and raping her in New York City in 1991, when she was a college student. Dickerson-Neal, who appeared with Combs in a music video, also cited revenge porn, claiming he filmed the assault and shared it with other people in the music industry. The lawsuit, also filed under N.Y.’s Adult Survivors Act, named Bad Boy Entertainment, Bad Boy Records and Combs Enterprises as defendants as well.
The same day, an anonymous plaintiff filed a third lawsuit in New York County Supreme Court alleging that Combs and R&B singer-songwriter Aaron Hall took turns raping her and a friend at Hall’s New York apartment in 1990 or 1991.
Diddy’s spokesperson called both suits “fabricated claims falsely alleging misconduct from over 30 years ago and filed at the last minute. This is nothing but a money grab.” The spokesperson added, “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.”
On Nov. 28, Revolt, the hip-hop TV network Diddy co-founded, said in a statement that Diddy was stepping down as the network’s chairman amid the lawsuits. Combs’s rep called it a temporary situation.
Dec. 6
A fourth civil lawsuit was filed by a Jane Doe against Combs in the United States District Court in the Southern District of New York alleging that she was sex trafficked and gang raped by the star in 2003. She said she was 17 at the time and was flown to New York City on a private plane to meet Combs, Pierre and an unnamed third male and that the three plied her with “copious amounts of drugs and alcohol,” then raped her in a bathroom at Combs’s studio. Combs, Pierre, Daddy’s House Recordings and Bad Boy Entertainment are defendants in the suit, which was filed by the same attorney who represented Cassie. Unlike the three other lawsuits, this suit falls under New York’s Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law, which allows survivors a two-year window between March 1, 2023, and Feb. 28, 2025, to file claims even if the statute of limitations has expired.
The fourth lawsuit resulted in Combs breaking his silence, saying in a statement from his rep and posted to social media, “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. 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.”
Pierre also slammed the lawsuit in a statement to TMZ, calling it a “tale of fiction. I have never participated in, witnessed, nor heard of anything like this, ever. These disgusting allegations are false and a desperate attempt for financial gain.”
The same day, Tiffany Red, a Grammy-winning songwriter who managed Cassie, wrote an open letter published by Rolling Stone saying she witnessed abuse that Comb inflicted on Cassie and claiming that Diddy “terrified” her. “There were occasions when I heard [Combs] yelling at her and making threats” and “observed her so high I was afraid of her overdosing at a party [Combs] threw for her.”
Meanwhile, 50 Cent, a long rival of Combs, confirmed that his production company is making a documentary about the sexual assault allegations against Diddy. He noted that all the proceeds will be donated to rape victims.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, help is available. RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline is here for survivors 24/7 with free, anonymous help. 800-656-HOPE (4673) and online.rainn.org.
