Sean 'Diddy' Combs challenges allegations of sexually assaulting 17-year-old girl
Hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs asked a federal judge on Friday to dismiss a lawsuit accusing him of raping a 17-year-old girl in a New York recording studio in 2003. Labeling the accusation as a "false and hideous claim," Combs argues it was filed too late under the law. This legal action is part of several similar lawsuits and an ensuing criminal sex-trafficking investigation that Combs has been facing.
Lawsuit details and Combs's defense strategy
The lawsuit—filed last December and amended in March—was brought forward by an unnamed woman currently residing in Canada. She alleges that she was flown to New York on a private jet by Harve Pierre—then-president of Combs's Bad Boy Entertainment record label—while she was an 11th grader in a Detroit suburb high school in 2003. She then was taken to the recording studio where "she was given drugs" until she was "incompetent of consenting to sex."
Combs requested the case be 'dismissed now'
Further, the lawsuit claimed that "Pierre, Combs, and a man she [plaintiff] didn't know took turns raping her." Per reports, the legal document also included pictures of the alleged victim sitting on the rapper's lap that she said were "taken on the night in question." In his defense filing, Combs has requested the case be "dismissed now, with prejudice," which would prevent it from being refiled, "to protect the Combs Defendants from further reputational injury."
Combs's defense cited 'damage' and 'legal timing'
Meanwhile, the filing criticizes the plaintiff for not being able to specify the exact day or time of year when the alleged incident occurred. It said, "Mr Combs and his companies categorically deny Plaintiff's decades-old tale against them, which has caused incalculable damage to their reputations and business standing before any evidence has been presented." "Plaintiff cannot allege what day or time of year the alleged incident occurred, but miraculously remembers other salacious details, despite her alleged incapacitated condition."
Combs faces multiple lawsuits under New York's Adult Survivors Act
This lawsuit is one of many filed against Combs under New York's Adult Survivors Act, which temporarily suspended certain legal deadlines to give sexual assault victims a chance to sue over abuse that occurred years or even decades ago. However, the deadlines established by this law have expired. Last month, Combs filed a motion to dismiss a suit by Joi Dickerson, who claimed she was drugged and sexually assaulted by him when she was a 19-year-old college student.
