Sean “Diddy” Combs is accused of raping a woman in a New York City recording studio with his bodyguard and recording the alleged attack more than 20 years ago, the lawsuit filed Tuesday.
The trial will take place about a week after Combs, 54, was indicted on federal charges He claims he used his business empire as a criminal enterprise. Prosecutors accuse him of sexually and physically abusing women through so-called “freak-offs.” He is charged with human trafficking, conspiracy to commit extortion and transportation for prostitution, among other charges.
He was denied bail twice after pleading his innocence in a federal court in New York City.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, accuses him of raping Thalia Graves in 2001, when she was 25 and in a relationship with one of his employees. CBS News Los Angeles does not typically identify potential victims of sexual abuse, but Graves publicly identified herself Tuesday when she spoke to reporters at a news conference alongside her attorney, Gloria Allred.
The complaint alleges that Combs and another man, described in the complaint as his bodyguard and then head of security, gave her a drink “likely laced with a drug, causing her to briefly lose consciousness” at a Bad Boy Records studio.
“She awoke to find herself bound and restrained,” the complaint states, adding that Combs “relentlessly raped” her.
Two attorneys for Combs did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
Shareif Ziyadat /Getty Images for Sean “Diddy” Combs)
According to the lawsuit, Graves first learned that the alleged assault had been videotaped on Nov. 27, 2023, and that Combs and the other man had allegedly shown the video to several other men — “for the purpose of publicly humiliating and degrading her and her boyfriend.” That same month, Combs had a settlement agreement has been reached with singer Cassie Ventura.
It was reached just a day after Ventura filed a lawsuit accusing him of raping and physically abusing her over a period of years. At the time, Combs denied the allegations through an attorney.
“To be clear, a decision to settle a lawsuit, particularly in 2023, is in no way an admission of wrongdoing,” Combs’ attorney Ben Brafman said in a statement to CBS News.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Graves said the alleged attack — and the recording of it — left her “emotionally scarred,” as she struggles with conditions including PTSD, depression and anxiety as a result.
“It’s a pain that cuts deep into your being,” she said through tears. “Being blamed, interrogated, and threatened often left me feeling worthless, isolated, and sometimes responsible for what happened to me.”
The lawsuit alleges that she has been threatened several times since then, causing her to remain silent.
“For decades, she remained silent and did not report the crime out of fear that Defendants would use their power to destroy her life, as they repeatedly and explicitly threatened to do,” the lawsuit says, adding that she “continues to live in fear of Defendants.”
“Upon information and belief, Defendants have continued to show the rape video to others and/or sell the video as pornography over the years and into the present,” the indictment later states.
When Combs was indicted last week, federal prosecutors said his alleged crimes dated back to 2008 and were part of a broader criminal enterprise involving several other individuals.
“The indictment alleges that between at least 2008 and the present, Combs abused, threatened, and coerced victims to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams told reporters last week. “As alleged in the indictment, in order to carry out this conduct, Sean Combs led and participated in a racketeering conspiracy that utilized the business empire he controlled to conduct criminal activities.”
Williams said federal agents searched Combs’ homes in Los Angeles and Miami earlier this year and discovered firearms, ammunition and other evidence. Combs has been charged with crimes including human trafficking, kidnapping and obstruction of justice.
Federal prosecutors allege he threatened victims and accused him of using recordings of alleged attacks as “collateral.”
“He used the embarrassing and sensitive recordings he made of the ‘freak-offs’ as collateral against the victims. The indictment alleges that he exerted control over the victims in a variety of ways, including by giving them drugs, giving and threatening to take away financial support or housing, promising them career opportunities, monitoring their whereabouts and even dictating their physical appearance,” Williams said.
