Sean “Diddy” Combs has been named in a fourth lawsuit on Wednesday that accuses the hip-hop billionaire mogul of sex trafficking and gang-raping a teenage girl with two other men in a New York City recording studio 20 years ago.
In the latest complaint filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan, an unidentified woman reportedly alleges two associates of Combs — Harve Pierre, a former longtime president of his record label, and an unnamed individual — met her when she was only 17 years old at a lounge in the Detroit area before flying her on a private plane to New York in 2003.
“Mr. Combs convinced Ms. Doe, who was half his age at the time, to accompany Mr. Pierre and the Third Assailant on a private jet to come to his studio in New York City,” the suit alleges.
After arriving, the lawsuit says Combs and the two associates “plied” her with copious amounts of drugs and alcohol and took turns raping her as she drifted “in and out of consciousness.” Following the alleged assaults, the complaint states she “fell into the fetal position and lay on the floor” before the group of men sent her on a plane back to Michigan.
“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,” Douglas H. Wigdor, an attorney for the woman, said in a statement. “The depravity of these abhorrent acts has, not surprisingly, scarred our client for life.”
The suit also names Daddy’s House Recordings, a studio owned and operated by Combs, and Bad Boy Entertainment, the record label Combs founded in 1993, as defendants.
The plaintiff is reportedly seeking injunctive, declaratory, and monetary relief in the lawsuit, which she filed under the Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law that gives adults of alleged sexual assault to seek civil damages for sexual battery until March 1, 2025.
Combs, who began his career as an intern at Uptown Records in the early 1990s before starting his own label that produced big-name acts such as The Notorious B.I.G., became one of the most successful entrepreneurs and cultural icons of all time.
But after decades of influence and innovation, the struggle to preserve his name and legacy continues to spiral downward as rumors swirl about Combs, who now has four lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault stacked up against him.
“Enough is enough,” Combs said in a statement on social media. “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.”
— LOVE (@Diddy) December 6, 2023
The explosive allegations were first unveiled in November by R&B singer Cassie — real name Casandra Ventura.
Ventura, who was previously romantically involved with Combs and recorded under his label, accused him of rape and abuse that spanned more than ten years in a lawsuit filed in Manhattan’s Federal District Court.
Ventura alleged that Combs had used “copious amounts of drugs” — naming ecstasy and ketamine, among others — to control, beat, and film her performing sex acts with male prostitutes against her will. She said that she had refrained from involving police because she worried it “would merely give Mr. Combs another excuse to hurt her.”
Combs and Ventura settled the lawsuit approximately 24 hours after it was filed. The details of the settlement were not publicly shared.
Ben Brafman, a lawyer for Combs, said the settlement was “in no way an admission of wrongdoing.”
But Cassie’s lawsuit signaled what appeared to be the tip of the iceberg of more accusations to follow.
Days later, two more lawsuits were reportedly filed by Liza Gardner and Joie Dickerson-Nea, who also alleged in their complaints that Combs sexually assaulted them.
Combs has denied all of the allegations in each lawsuit.
Virginia Kruta contributed to this report.