Topline
Rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs has been accused of rape and sexual assault in two new separate lawsuits after recently settling a sexual assault suit against him by singer and former partner, Casandra “Cassie” Ventura—allegations that a representative for Combs denied.
Combs recently settled a sexual assault suit against him by singer and former partner, Casandra … [+]
Key Facts
Joie Dickerson-Neal filed a suit against Combs Thursday—one day before the New York Adult Survivors Act expired—in the New York Supreme Court, alleging he drugged her, sexually assaulted her and secretly filmed the assault while she was a college student in 1991, NBC News reported, citing the filing.
In the filing, Dickerson-Neal said she went to dinner “reluctantly” with Combs on January 3, 1991 and Combs “pushed” her to accompany him “as he attended to a few things in the city,” which is when she alleges she was drugged, “resulting in her being in a physical state where she could not independently stand or walk,” the BBC reported.
The lawsuit says Combs drove Dickerson-Neal to the place he was staying, sexually assaulted her there, and recorded the assault that he then showed to other people, according to the BBC.
Combs, Bad Boy Entertainment, Bad Boy Records and Combs Enterprises, which has since been rebranded as Combs Global, are listed as defendants in Dickerson-Neal’s lawsuit, NBC News reported.
Combs was accused of sexual assault in a third lawsuit by an anonymous plaintiff who alleged Combs and singer-songwriter Aaron Hall took turns raping the accuser and her friend in 1990 or 1991 after they met at an event hosted by MCA Records in New York where the singers “were very flirtatious and handsy” and offered the plaintiff and her friend drinks, Rolling Stone reported.
The filing reportedly claims Combs and Hall invited the women to Hall’s apartment for an afterparty where the plaintiff “was offered more drinks and was coerced into having sex with Combs,” and was “shocked and traumatized” afterwards, according to the lawsuit, before “Hall barged into the room, pinned her down and forced Jane Doe to have sex with him,” as she was getting dressed, according to Rolling Stone.
After speaking with her friend, the plaintiff allegedly found out she had also “been forced to have sex with Combs and Hall in another room,” the complaint says, and a few days later, Combs allegedly visited the home where the plaintiff and her friend were staying, where he became “irate and began assaulting and choking Jane Doe to the point that she passed out,” the lawsuit alleges, adding that Combs also looked for her friend “because he was worried that she would tell the girl he was with at the time what he and Hall had done to them.”
Combs, Hall, MCA Music Entertainment and Geffen Records are listed as defendants in the third lawsuit filed by Jane Doe, Rolling Stone reported.
Crucial Quote
In a statement shared with Forbes, a spokesperson for Combs said the lawsuits against the rapper “are fabricated claims falsely alleging misconduct from over 30 years ago and filed at the last minute.” The spokesperson called the lawsuits “nothing but a money grab” and due to Combs’ “fame and success, he is an easy target for anonymous accusers who lie without conscience or consequence for financial benefit.”
News Peg
The expiration of New York’s Adult Survivors Act today, prompted a number of sexual misconduct allegations in recent days against high-profile stars and politicians including Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose, Cuba Gooding Jr., Jamie Foxx and New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Rose, Foxx and Adams have denied the claims against them, while Gooding Jr. has not responded. The law allows sexual assault survivors to sue their alleged abusers regardless of when the statute of limitations expired.
Key Background
The two new lawsuits follow a lawsuit against Combs by singer and former partner, Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, who accused him of raping her in 2018, beating her, making her carry a firearm to “make her uncomfortable and demonstrate how dangerous he is” and forcing Ventura into “unwanted sexual encounters with male sex workers.” Ventura’s lawsuit against Combs was settled a day after she filed it for an undisclosed amount of money. Ventura said after the settlement she “decided to resolve this matter amicably on terms that I have some level of control.” According to Dickerson-Neal’s filing, Ventura’s lawsuit against Combs “forced her to face his assault again,” NBC News reported the filing as saying. Dickerson-Neal’s lawsuit says she suffered with her mental health, career and humiliation as a result of the assault being recorded, and that she did not go to the hospital or report the assault to police due to confusion and pain, the filing said, according to NBC News. Dickerson-Neal’s filing says she eventually filed police reports in New York and New Jersey and spoke to prosecutors to seek charges against Combs, then tried to locate the alleged video of her assault, but was told by colleagues they were “terrified that Combs would retaliate against them and that they would lose future business and music opportunities if they made a statement in support of” her, NBC News reported, citing the lawsuit.
Further Reading
New York’s Adult Survivors Act: Here’s Why A Wave Of Sexual Misconduct Allegations Have Been Filed In N.Y. Recently (Forbes)
Rapper Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Accused Of Rape And Sex Trafficking By Singer And Former Partner (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/britneynguyen/2023/11/24/rapper-sean-diddy-combs-accused-of-rape-and-sexual-assault-in-two-new-separate-lawsuits/