Sean “Diddy” Combs has requested a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that he and two co-defendants raped a 17-year-old girl in a New York recording studio in 2003, labeling it as a 'false and hideous claim' that was filed too late under the law. This legal maneuver is part of the ongoing response from the hip-hop mogul and his legal team following multiple similar lawsuits and a subsequent criminal sex-trafficking investigation.
The lawsuit, filed in December and amended in March by a woman now residing in Canada, claims that she was flown to New York in 2003 by Harve Pierre, then president of Combs' Bad Boy Entertainment record label, where she was allegedly given drugs and alcohol until she was unable to consent to sex. The lawsuit further alleges that Pierre, Combs, and an unidentified man took turns raping her.
The defense filing argues for the case to be 'dismissed now, with prejudice' to safeguard the Combs Defendants from further reputational harm. At this stage, the legal arguments are procedural rather than focused on the case's facts.
Several lawsuits against Combs involve decades-old allegations and fall under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, which allowed sexual assault victims a final opportunity to sue over past abuse. The lawsuit Combs is challenging was brought under New York City’s Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law, which allows accusers to file civil complaints involving sexual assault claims after the statute of limitations has expired.
Combs' motion contends that the suit was filed too late, as the city law is preempted by the state law, which required the lawsuit to be filed by August 2021 to be considered timely.
The public airing of allegations against Combs began with a lawsuit by singer Cassie, his former protege and girlfriend, containing allegations of abuse between 2005 and 2018. More lawsuits followed, and a sex-trafficking investigation was initiated by Homeland Security Investigations in March.
Combs has not been charged in connection with the investigation. Last month, he filed a motion to dismiss a suit by Joi Dickerson, who accused him of drugging and sexually assaulting her when she was 19.
