The more Sean “Diddy” Combs‘ life gets analyzed by the judicial system, the more the labyrinth of prototypical celebrity lifestyles keeps unraveling. Jay-Z is already facing his run-in with the law for his association with Diddy, and it seems that now the pressure has finally reached Jennifer Lopez’s doorstep.
For a brief and chaotic three years in the early 2000s, Diddy and Jennifer Lopez had a relationship that, by Diddy’s standards, was surprisingly non-violent. But that’s not to say their relationship was not tumultuous. At the time when the two 54-year-olds met, Diddy was one of the most celebrated rappers in the world — running one of the top-performing rap labels, Bad Boy Records, and renowned for a multi-platinum-selling debut album, No Way Out. And Diddy seemingly let the resulting ego of all this success get the best of him in the now-infamous New York City nightclub shooting of 1999, with Jennifer Lopez by his side.
The shooting at the nightclub was fatal, reportedly sparked by an argument that Diddy got into after a disagreement with a patron at the club. Diddy, Jennifer Lopez, and another rapper from the rapper’s label tried to make a run for it — they all got arrested. Eventually, Diddy’s charges were dropped, Jennifer Lopez’s charges were dismissed, and the other rapper, known as Jamal Barrow or just “Shyne” in rap industry circles, was indicted on five charges and served 10 years behind bars. To this day, Shyne still claims he took the fall for Diddy.
Now, two lawsuits against Diddy from that era are threatening to shine a light on how truly untouchable Diddy used to believe he was, and, unfortunately for Jennifer Lopez, some accusers are considering including her in their lawsuits as an expert witness. The first lawsuit considering Jennifer Lopez as a witness is by April Lampros. In Touch reports that Lampros is pressing charges on Diddy, claiming that he sexually assaulted her during his time with Jennifer Lopez, and her legal team has already declared that anyone is subject to a subpoena if they believe that they have relevant testimony.
The second case is a bit deeper, however. In Touch also reports that Diddy has another accuser who goes by the name Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith. He’s currently in prison but is suing Diddy for $400 million in damages. Cardello-Smith claims in his civil lawsuit that he met Diddy in his former job as a bartender and that’s when Diddy invited him to a sex party in 1997 where he gave him a spiked drink and allegedly sexually assaulted him.
Furthermore, Cardello-Smith alleges that some government officials helped Diddy cover up his crimes, an allegation that has, in all fairness, been included in many of Diddy’s accusers’ complaints. Cardello-Smith’s lawyers have illustrated full intentions of calling any relevant witnesses, including Jennifer Lopez “aka Jenny from the Block,” to corroborate his claims.
Diddy’s lawyer has vehemently denied Cardello-Smith’s claims, saying the allegations are made well past the expiry of the statute of limitations and also ridiculed his claims of a government conspiracy, saying,
“[Derrick’s] argument that he was intimidated into waiting over two decades to file this claim is not plausible. [Derrick’s] claim that he feared deadly retaliation from [Diddy], which was reasonable because ‘[Diddy] had Tupac Shakur killed[,]’ is simply incredible. Even accepted at face value, [Derrick’s] story makes little sense.”
At this point, as was the case with Jay-Z, it seems that it’s a matter of when and not if Jennifer Lopez is finally forced to elaborate on her relationship with Diddy.
Published: Dec 21, 2024 09:34 am