Breakdown Of Diddy’s Legal Troubles

Billionaire media mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has vehemently denied accusations of violence and sexual abuse which were lobbed at him during the last six months, at the same time as federal brokers raided properties linked to him.

“Sufficient is sufficient,” the rapper mentioned in a press release in December.

“Sickening allegations have been made towards me by people on the lookout for a fast payday,” he mentioned. “Let me be completely clear: I didn’t do any of the terrible issues being alleged. I’ll combat for my identify, my household and for the reality.”

However the accusations bought tougher to disclaim Friday when CNN revealed beforehand unseen footage from 2016, which seems to indicate Diddy violently assaulting his then-girlfriend, singer-songwriter Cassie Ventura. The disturbing footage corroborated claims she made in a bombshell lawsuit filed towards him in November.

The 54-year-old, who has additionally passed by Puffy or Puff Daddy, settled the lawsuit with Cassie a day after she filed it, however the floodgates have been opened. Over the following a number of months, extra accusers filed lawsuits claiming he was violent or sexually abusive. In March, Homeland Safety Investigations brokers performed the raids.

The raids and lawsuits, which come amid a broader reckoning within the music trade, add to a protracted listing of authorized troubles Diddy has confronted through the years.

Right here’s a timeline of allegations made towards Diddy all through his profession.

Diddy was discovered responsible of misdemeanor felony mischief in 1996 for utilizing a gun to threaten a New York Submit photographer, NPR reported.

The incident occurred in 1995 as Gary Miller was taking photographs of Diddy’s firm vehicles, in response to The New York Instances.

Diddy and about 10 of his staff surrounded Miller earlier than they “menaced him with a pistol and seized his movie,” in response to the Instances, which additionally reported that Diddy denied the accusation.

File label govt Steve Stoute accused Diddy and others of assaulting him over a dispute involving a music video with rapper Nas in April 1999, in response to The Washington Submit.

“He punched me within the face, after which he grabbed the telephone and bashed me within the head with it,” Stoute mentioned in a Could 1999 interview with the Los Angeles Instances.

“One minute I’m in the midst of a gathering,” he mentioned, “and the following minute I’m down on the ground and Puffy and his guys are kicking and pounding me. One in every of them picks up a chair and throws it at me. Then Puffy throws my desk over and so they simply stroll out like nothing occurred.”

Diddy confronted as much as seven years behind bars, however Stout reportedly requested the Manhattan district legal professional to drop the fees following an apology from Diddy, in response to The New York Instances. Although the assault cost was dropped, Diddy reportedly pleaded responsible to harassment and was ordered to attend sooner or later of anger administration courses, in response to NPR.

Amid a Dec. 27, 1999, capturing at a New York Metropolis nightclub, a bullet hit Natania Reuben in her face. Reuben claimed she noticed Diddy and a rapper named Shyne holding a gun on the time of the capturing. Regardless of a jury acquitting Diddy in 2001, Reuben has insisted Diddy is the one who shot her.

“I might completely, unequivocally just like the case reopened. It must be reopened,” Reuben informed NewsNation in March. “And the saddest half to me is, had individuals taken what I mentioned extra severely and listened extra intently, 24 years value of individuals in all probability wouldn’t have needed to endure.”

Shyne served time for the capturing after being convicted of a number of prices, together with first-degree assault, reckless endangerment and felony possession of a weapon. Shyne argued he had fired his gun into the air through the battle, not at Reuben. Reuben has maintained that Shyne just isn’t liable for her facial damage.

Roger Mills, host of a celeb TV present, sued Diddy in March 2001, alleging the media mogul and his entourage attacked him and broke his digicam following an interview in 1999, Billboard reported.

When Mills requested Diddy about rumors that he was concerned within the 1997 killing of rapper Infamous B.I.G., the interview instantly concluded, in response to Billboard.

In February 2004, a jury discovered Diddy not responsible, in response to Right this moment.

In a March 2007 lawsuit, a person named Gerard Rechnitzer accused Diddy of punching him and pushing his girlfriend at a February 2007 celebration at Teddy’s on the Hollywood Roosevelt Lodge in Los Angeles, in response to CBS Information. The lawsuit was settled in March 2008, and the phrases weren’t disclosed, in response to TMZ.

In June 2015, when Diddy’s son Justin Combs was a defensive again for UCLA’s soccer crew, Diddy was arrested for throwing a kettlebell at Sal Alosi, the energy and conditioning coach for UCLA. He was initially charged with assault with a lethal weapon. Nonetheless, the Los Angeles County district legal professional’s workplace opted to not press prices towards Diddy, in response to Selection. The DA’s workplace referred the case to town legal professional’s workplace on misdemeanor prices however mentioned “it’s unlikely that prices might be filed” towards him, in response to NBC Information.

In Could 2017, Cindy Rueda, a former private chef for Diddy, accused him of sexual harassment whereas she labored for him from April 2015 to Could 2016, in response to KNBC-TV in Los Angeles.

Rueda mentioned she was often compelled to offer meals for Diddy and his company “instantly following sexual exercise,” had unwillingly seen him and others bare or engaged in sexual exercise, and had been requested sex-based questions. She claimed she was compelled to work lengthy hours with out additional time pay, generally from 9 a.m. to properly previous 1 a.m.

The 2 settled the lawsuit in February 2019, and the phrases weren’t disclosed, in response to KNBC.

Music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones asserted in courtroom paperwork that Diddy or his son, Justin, shot a 30-year-old buddy of Justin, named G, twice inside a toilet at Chalice Recording Studio in Los Angeles in September 2022, JHB reported. Lil Rod additionally mentioned G disappeared after the capturing.

Lil Rod’s account of the capturing contrasts with a KCAL-TV report citing the police across the time of the capturing. The report, which doesn’t identify the people concerned, mentioned the sufferer was shot exterior.

Lawyer Shawn Holley denied Diddy’s or his son’s involvement within the capturing.

“Neither Sean nor Justin have been within the neighborhood and even conscious of what had occurred till afterwards. So I don’t assume both of them have been interviewed [by police],” Holley mentioned in a March assertion to NBC Information.

Lil Rod later accused Diddy of orchestrating a cover-up of the capturing.

“Me & U” singer Cassie (Casandra Elizabeth Ventura) filed a 35-page grievance towards the media mogul in New York on Nov. 16. The 2 dated from 2007 to 2018, beginning their relationship when she was 19 and he was 37.

Cassie mentioned Diddy raped her, compelled her to interact in intercourse acts with male intercourse staff and often beat her throughout their relationship. She accused him of blowing up the automobile of rapper and producer Child Cudi, who reportedly had a romantic curiosity in Cassie at one level. Cassie additionally mentioned Diddy pushed her to abuse substances and that he dangled considered one of her mates over a balcony.

Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Tiffany Crimson, a buddy of Cassie, corroborated the claims in Cassie’s swimsuit, JHB beforehand reported. Crimson was briefly alluded to within the lawsuit.

Cassie and Diddy settled her lawsuit towards him the day after it was filed.

“I’ve determined to resolve this matter amicably on phrases that I’ve some degree of management. I wish to thank my household, followers and legal professionals for his or her unwavering assist,” Cassie mentioned in a press release.

Her legal professional Douglas Wigdor added: “I’m very pleased with Ms. Ventura for having the energy to go public along with her lawsuit. She should be recommended for doing so.”

Diddy additionally launched a press release asserting the settlement of the case:

“I want Cassie and her household all the most effective. Love,” he mentioned.

Cassie’s lawsuit seemingly kicked off a number of different fits towards the hip-hop star.

On Thanksgiving Day in 2023, Joi Dickerson-Neal accused Diddy of drugging her and raping her in 1991. On the time, she was a pupil at Syracuse College and he was a expertise director at Uptown Information, USA Right this moment reported. She mentioned Diddy had proven recorded footage of the rape to others, together with Davante Swing, a member of the R&B group Jodeci. Swing informed Dickerson-Neal that “everybody” had seen the revenge porn, in response to USA Right this moment.

Diddy’s authorized crew pushed again towards Dickerson-Neal’s claims in courtroom, arguing that legal guidelines relating to the incident didn’t exist on the time. They’ve requested that the revenge porn and human trafficking components of the case be dismissed with prejudice, that means it will probably’t be refiled.

In one other lawsuit filed on Thanksgiving, an unnamed girl accused Diddy and singer Aaron Corridor of raping her at Corridor’s dwelling, both in 1990 or 1991.

“Whereas at Corridor’s house, Jane Doe was supplied extra drinks and was coerced into having intercourse with Combs,” the submitting says, in response to Rolling Stone. “After Combs completed doing his enterprise, Jane Doe laid in mattress, shocked and traumatized. As she was within the means of getting dressed, Corridor barged into the room, pinned her down and compelled Jane Doe to have intercourse with him.”

Doe additionally mentioned Diddy got here to her dwelling throughout the following days to choke and assault her, in response to Rolling Stone.

A lady known as Jane Doe filed a lawsuit claiming that Diddy, former Dangerous Boy Information President Harve Pierre and an unnamed man “gang raped” and “intercourse trafficked” her in 2003 when she was a 17-year-old excessive schooler, JHB reported. In 2003, Diddy was 34.

She claimed she met Pierre at a lounge in Detroit, was flown out to Daddy’s Home Recording Studio in New York Metropolis, which Diddy owned, and was given “copious quantities of medicine and alcohol.”

On Could 10, 2024, Diddy’s authorized crew requested a federal choose to dismiss the case with prejudice.

“Mr. Combs and his corporations categorically deny Plaintiff’s decades-old story towards them, which has brought about incalculable injury to their reputations and enterprise standing earlier than any proof has been offered,” the submitting mentioned, in response to The Related Press. “Plaintiff can not allege what day or time of yr the alleged incident occurred, however miraculously remembers different salacious particulars, regardless of her alleged incapacitated situation.”

Lil Rod filed a lawsuit towards Diddy and a number of other related corporations in February, accusing Diddy of sexual harassment, grooming, working a racketeering enterprise and extra.

“All through his time with Mr. Combs, Mr. Jones witnessed, skilled, and endured many issues that went far past his position as a Producer on the Love album,” the 73-page grievance says. “Mr. Combs required Mr. Jones to report him continuously. … In consequence, Mr. Jones has secured a whole lot of hours of footage and audio information of Mr. Combs, his workers, and his company partaking in severe criminality.”

The Division of Homeland Safety’s investigation division raided a number of houses linked to Diddy in Los Angeles and Miami on March 25, JHB reported.

In accordance with CBS News reporter Nicole Sganga, who cited unnamed officers, the raids could also be linked to a intercourse trafficking investigation. Particulars in regards to the raid haven’t but been launched.

An legal professional for Diddy, Aaron Dyer, condemned the raid the next day.

“[T]right here was a gross overuse of military-level pressure as search warrants have been executed at Mr. Combs’ residences,” Dyer informed E! Information. “There is no such thing as a excuse for the extreme present of pressure and hostility exhibited by authorities.”

“This unprecedented ambush — paired with a complicated, coordinated media presence — results in a untimely rush to judgment of Mr. Combs and is nothing greater than a witch hunt primarily based on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits,” added Dyer.

Lydia O’Connor contributed reporting.

Need assistance? Go to RAINN’s Nationwide Sexual Assault On-line Hotline or the Nationwide Sexual Violence Useful resource Heart’s web site.