Warning: The following article mentions violent crime and sexual assault. Please read with caution.
In Nov. 2023, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs had three civil lawsuits brought against him alleging sexual abuse, among other accusations. The musician settled the first case out of court, but in the aftermath, two more unrelated suits were filed against Combs in New York, alleging still further sexual abuse from the star.
The first suit against Combs came from Casandra “Cassie” Ventura. At one time, Ventura was signed to Combs’ Bad Boy Records label, and the couple was romantically involved, but their relationship reportedly ended in 2018. In their time together, Ventura said Combs sexually assaulted and physically abused her several times, among other allegations. She later settled her suit against Combs for an undisclosed amount.
The second civil suit against Combs came from events that allegedly happened in the 1990s. At that time, Joi Dickerson-Neal was a student at Syracuse University when she said Combs — who in his career has performed as Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, and Diddy — drugged her and sexually assaulted her. Combs taped and shared the encounter with friends in an alleged “revenge porn” incident.
According to the suit, Dickerson-Neal seeks to “redress the substantial and lifetime injuries she has suffered as a result of being drugged, sexually assaulted and abused, and being the victim of ‘revenge porn’ that Sean Combs or ‘P. Diddy’ created and distributed” (via CNN).
The third litigant is currently unidentified
As of this report, the third woman to file a civil suit against Sean Combs in a New York court chose not to be identified and was referred to as Jane Doe. Another man, musician Aaron Hall, was named in the suit that accuses both Hall and Combs of raping Jane Doe and another woman as well as states that Combs physically assaulted Jane Doe at a later date. Combs is accused of choking the plaintiff in the case until she passed out, according to The Guardian.
Combs’ spokespeople have denied all the allegations and have characterized them as an effort to get money from the star before the end of the New York Survivors Act one-year window, allowing sexual assault civil suits to be filed after the statute of limitations has passed.
According to CNN, a Combs’ spokesperson said his willingness to settle with Ventura in the first suit filed was not an admission of guilt. Referring to the Dickerson-Neal allegations, a spokesperson added, “This last-minute lawsuit is an example of how a well-intentioned law can be turned on its head.”
If you know someone suffering from sexual violence, contact RAINN or the National Sexual Abuse Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
